Uptake of radium-226 and polonium-210 by vegetation in Kaiga environ

Soil and vegetation samples of Kaiga plant site environ were analysed for 226Ra and 210Po activity by employing well established nuclear techniques and radiochemical methods. While the 226Ra activity in soil was found to be almost the same as the value reported for other environs of the country, the 210Po activity of soil was found to be high compared to other environs. The soil to plant transfer coefficients were determined from the measured activity values. These transfer coefficients results show that the 210Po activity of vegetation is largely due to atmospheric precipitation and that of 226Ra is essentially due to uptake through root. The activity ratio of 210Po and 226Ra in soil samples show that 210Po is not in equilibrium with 226Ra. (author). 17 refs., 2 tabs