[en] The vertical distribution of ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ²⁴¹Am and plutonium in upper soil layers from the exclusion zone was investigated to get information on the retention mechanisms of these nuclides. Therefore, several drill cores of 30 cm length were collected in the city of Pripyat. Each drill core was cut into 10 layers of different thick-nesses. Due to their half-lives, ¹³⁷Cs (T_1/2=30,17 a) and ⁹⁰Sr (T_1/2=28,78 a) still dominate the contamination in this region. Because of their relevance to long-term considerations the different isotopes of plutonium (²³⁸Pu, ²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu) as well as ²⁴¹Am being the daughter of ²⁴¹Pu were also investigated. In the first step, each sample was analyzed by gamma spectrometry to determine the amount of ¹³⁷Cs and ²⁴¹Am by their characteristic gamma lines (¹³⁷Cs: E_γ=661,7 keV; ²⁴¹Am: E_γ=59,54 keV). In the next steps, the soil samples were ashed and plutonium and strontium were chemically separated. For the detection of plutonium alpha spectrometry was used. The ⁹⁰Sr measurements were performed by liquid scintillation counting (LSC). The specific activity of ²⁴¹Am, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr and the three plutonium isotopes in different depths of one drill core are shown in a figure. While the absolute specific activities in layers of equal depth differ considerably, the decrease follows similar slopes in all cores and all nuclide below the 15 cm. Each nuclide is detected down to 30 cm depth. Important information on the different migration behavior is obtained from the specific activity ratios of different nuclides. From the decrease in the ratio of ²⁴¹Am and ^239+240Pu activities migration rates of plutonium and americium are deduced by a simple model.