https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2008.004
Published: Kem. Ind. 58 (4) (2009) 165–170
Paper reference number: KUI-04/2008
Paper type: Professional paper
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Analysis of the Radiopollution of the City of Sarajevo and its Surrounding Area with Regard to Radionuclides

J. Huremović, M. Horvat, E. Ruždić and R. Jaćimović

Abstract

In recent years, great attention has been focused on the research of problems related to the environment and processes occurring within it. The accident that occurred at Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl (1986) unquestionably warned that global pollution with radioactive substances on a continent scale may be expected. The past twenty years have been marked with the utilization of metal uranium – a depleted isotope of uranium-235 for various purposes. Today, depleted uranium has found its use in modern armies and it is used as efficient ammunition against armored military systems. There are estimates about the usage of ammunition with depleted uranium deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war (1992–1995). The region of Bosnia and Herzegovina was exposed to the direct influence of the global dispersion processes that had occurred in May 1986 as a consequence of emissions originating from Nuclear Power Plant “Lenin” in Chernobyl. In this work the radionuclides fraction analysis (238U, 226Ra, 210Pb, 232Th, 40K i 137Cs) of surface samples (0–5 cm) originating from the City of Sarajevo and its surroundings has been presented. The soil samples were taken from nine locations in the city and the surrounding area: Blekin potok, Kobilja glava, Bentbaša, Vraca, Prirodno-matematički fakultet (PMF), Azići, Hrasnica, Butmir, and Blažuj. The analyses were performed at the Department for Environment of Jožef Štefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Ge HP detector connected to Ortec MCA Gamma Vision 32 Software was used in addition to the Instrumental Neutron Activation Technique (INAA). The results of the analysis were compared with data available for the City of Sarajevo (years 1986, 1987 and 1988) and Slovenia. Analyses were made after Chernobyl catastrophe. Almost all of radionuclides analysed have shown to have a slightly higher specific radioactivity when compared to the data obtained in 1986, 1987 and 1989 for the City of Sarajevo. Our results are in accordance with the values obtained in Slovenia except in the case of 137Cs at location Vraca, where a significantly higher concentration has been observed and reaching α = 460 ± 20 Bq kg–1.

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Keywords

radionuclides, radiopollution, City of Sarajevo