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25 years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant: Radioecological lessons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2012

J. Barescut ,
D. Lariviere ,
T. Stocki ,
R.M. Alexakhin  and
S.A. Geras’kin
R.M. Alexakhin
Affiliation:
Russian Institute of Agricultural Radiology & Agroecology, Obninsk, Kaluga region, Russia
S.A. Geras’kin
Affiliation:
Russian Institute of Agricultural Radiology & Agroecology, Obninsk, Kaluga region, Russia
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Abstract

The area affected by the Chernobyl accident has become a unique test site where long-term ecological and biological consequences of a drastic change in a range of environmental factors as well as trends and intensity of selection are studied in natural settings. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident for biota varied from an enhanced rate of mutagenesis to damage at the ecosystem level. The severity of radiation effects was strongly dependent on the dose received in the early period after the accident. The most exposed phytocenoses and soil animals’ communities exhibited dose dependent alterations in the species composition and reduction in biological diversity. These findings make a valuable contribution to scientific and public understanding of the environmental risks of ionizing radiation and to debates on the environmental costs, benefits and risks of nuclear energy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 46 , Issue 6: ICRER 2011 – International Conference on Radioecology & Environmental Radioactivity: Environment & Nuclear Renaissance , 2011 , pp. S595 - S600
Copyright
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2011

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