January 26, 2023 We held an IER Special Seminar.＜Prof. Levchuk＞

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On January 26, Guest Speaker Dr Sviatoslav Levchuk gave an online lecture on the subject “Terrestrial Radioecology”. The lecture was attended by the IER Graduate School Master and PhD students as well as the members of the IER and visiting researchers. In his lecture, Dr. Levchuk reviewed the long-term radioecological studies of terrestrial ecosystems in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, focusing at geochemical and biogenic migration of radionuclides in the soil. Dr. Levchuk presented a large amount of empirical data on the migration of 137Cs, 90Sr, Pu isotopes, radioisotopes of Cl and I, and others, and interpreted the observed regularities based on elemental properties, soil conditions such as pH, organic matter content, humidity, etc., and physical form of deposition. The requirements for the soil sampling were discussed, and practical advice were given on how to conduct representative and accurate sampling. The audience actively participated in the Q&A session, which covered issues related to the migration of radionuclides from the unsaturated soil zone to the aquifer, distribution coefficients of radionuclides in different soil conditions in Chornobyl and Fukushima, modeling of radionuclide migration, and the availability of results of the Chornobyl studies.