137Cs and 90Sr behavioural regularities in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea

Variations in 137Cs concentrations were investigated over the period 1986–1997 in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea, following the Chernobyl power plant accident. The rate of “self-cleaning” was demonstrated to be very slow, the average concentration of 137Cs in 1996 being almost the same as that measured directly after the accident, in 1986. Measurements of both 137Cs and 90Sr concentrations generally revealed homogeneous distributions in this region of the Baltic Sea, though patchy distributions did develop under some hydrometeorological conditions. Specifically, the 137Cs concentration distribution became heterogenous with values varying in the range 60–92 Bq/m3 under south–southwesterly wind conditions whilst the 90Sr concentration distribution developed similar characteristics with values ranging from 15 to 64 Bq/m3 under east–southeasterly wind conditions. In addition, in coastal waters, over extensive periods of north–northwesterly winds in 1995, 137Cs concentrations increased to values 1.5–2 times the overall average concentration, which was registered in 1986 and 1996. These data therefore reveal a continuing significant pollution of the waters of the Baltic Sea resulting from the Chernobyl power plant accident, a pollution compounded by the slow rate of radionuclide self-cleaning and significant probability of sudden regional concentration increase.