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Updated: May 3, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films
Published on: November 9, 2015
137Cs and 90Sr IN lizards of Semipalatinsk test site
А V Panitskiy1, S N Lukashenko1, N Zh Kadyrova1
1Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology of the NNC RK, Kurchatov, Kazakhstan.
Abstract:
The paper provides research results of 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides concentrations in bodies of Lacertidae family lizards, inhabiting different parts of Semipalatinsk Test Site, and the parameters of these radionuclides' transfer into lizards' bodies. It shows that high activity concentration of radionuclides in lizards' bodies can be noticed if they live directly at locally contaminated areas. Since the distance from contaminated spots exceeds home range of the studied animals, no increased values of radionuclides' activity were found in the animal bodies. At some individual radioactively contaminated spots, very high activity concentrations of 90Sr radionuclide up to 7.8 × 105 Bq kg-1 were found in lizards. So under certain conditions, lizards can significantly contribute to radionuclides redistribution in the natural environment. Mean concentration ratios (CR) of radionuclides were as follows: 137Cs-6.2 × 10-3, 90Sr-1.1 × 10-2.
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