THE EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM IN CHERNOBYL: AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH POLYGON IN THE EXCLUSION ZONE FOR SOIL AND GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION

摘要

This review article introduces an experimental site situated within the Chernobyl exclusion zone, that is equipped to study (1) release of radio-nuclides from dispersed hot fuel particles, (2) transport of these radionuclides through the unsaturated zone and finally (3) their transport in the phreatic aquifer. This paper presents how the site is equipped and what methodology was followed in order to understand and reproduce the observed ~(90)Sr contaminant plume downstream from a shallow waste trench in an area about 2.5 km west from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP), called the "Red Forest". Main results include an inventory and description of the physical and chemical properties of the fuel particles encountered in the waste trench, a valid reproduction of flow through the unsaturated zone, a first model to describe flow and transport of ~(90)Sr in the aquifer. These results also indicate the main factors that need better understanding.