137Cs-to-40K ratio and wind resuspension factor monitoring in Greece during the last forty years

Abstract

¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K concentrations in soil and air were measured since 1986. ¹³⁷Cs wind-resuspension factor was 7.4 ± 1.3 × 10^–6 m⁻¹ after Chernobyl, while one decade later, it reduced to 1.5 ± 0.3 × 10^–9 m⁻¹, but for ⁴⁰K was constant 7.4 ± 1.3 × 10^–9 m⁻¹ The air ¹³⁷Cs-to-⁴⁰K ratio was 12:7 after the accident, dropping to 0.04 during 1995. The Fukushima accident gave 1.0, which is like a radiological event in Spain when it was 0.6. The Chernobyl wildfires recorded 0.18, while contaminated wood combustion for heating showed 0.15. The results indicate that forest ecosystems remain a source of unwanted radioactivity in the environment.