Measurement of the whole-body 137Cs in residents around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

To understand the current situation of internal radiation exposure in the population around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP), we examined the 137Cs body burden in six residents of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia in 2002 and 2004 using the whole-body counter (WBC) at Nagasaki Univ. (Japan). The data were compared with those of our previous study performed in 1993-1994 using the same method. In 2002 and 2004, peaks of 137Cs were detected in two residents from Gomel, which was heavily contaminated by the CNPP accident, one from Minsk (Belarus) and one from Kiev (Ukraine), but another resident from Minsk showed no 137Cs peaks. The results of the present study suggests that residents around the CNPP are still exposed to chronic 137Cs internal irradiation, probably due to the daily consumption of contaminated domestic foods, but the risk of any disease by the irradiation is quite low. Long-term follow-up of WBC around the CNPP is useful and may contribute to radiation safety regulation together with a reduction of unnecessary radio-phobia for the residents. (authors)