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National Technical University of Athens
School of Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear Engineering Department

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 53(2001) 59-66

Geographical mapping and associated fractal analysis of the long-lived Chernobyl fallout radionuclides in Greece

N.P. Petropoulos, M.J. Anagnostakis, E.P. Hinis and S.E. Simopoulos
Nuclear Engineering Section
Mechanical Engineering Department
National Technical University of Athens

Immediately after the Chernobyl accident, a soil sampling programme was undertaken in order to detect and quantitatively analyse the long-lived radionuclides in the Chernobyl fallout. Soil samples (1242 in number) of 1 cm thick surface soil were collected in Greece during the period from MayNovember 1986. The samples were counted and analysed using Ge detector set-ups. The 137Cs fallout data have already been analysed, mapped and published. In an attempt to improve this analysis and also to extend it to other fallout radionuclides, an in-house unix-based data base/geographical information system (DBGIS) was developed. Multifractal analyses of the deposition patterns have also been performed. In the present work, an analysis of the results of the deposition of 137Cs, 134Cs, 144Ce, 141Ce, 125Sb, 110mAg, 106Ru, 103Ru, 95Zr and 54Mn are presented together with relevant fractal analysis and three characteristic contour maps. The maximum detected values of the above-mentioned radionuclides were 149.5±0.1, 76.1±0.1, 32.9±0.2, 46±2, 4.56±0.02, 7.98±0.02, 79.1±0.4, 337±2, 20.1±0.2 and 3.02±0.02 kBq m2, respectively. Furthermore, a statistical technique to compare contour maps was introduced and applied to explain the differences which appeared in the maps of the above-mentioned radionuclides.

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