Study of the Plant Cover and Contents of Radionuclides at the Aktan-Berli Site

The article presents characteristics of the plant cover at the “Aktan-Berli” site including the content of natural ( 40 K, 232 Th, 226 Ra) and artificial ( 137 Cs, 90 Sr, 241 Am, 239+240 Pu, 3 Н) radionuclides. It has been found that the plant cover of the site is represented by ecosystems of high Kazakh hammocks bordering on ecosystems of lowlands in the west and ecosystems of ancient alluvial and modern alluvial plains. The content of free-water 3 Н (FWT) and organic constituent (OBT) is below the detection limit of the methodological instrumentation in use (<8 Bq/kg). The concentration of natural radionuclides is typical, especially for Kazakhstani soil. The range of 90 Sr activity concentration in plants range from <0.7 to 6.7 Bq/kq, 137 Cs – from <0.6 to 1.1 Bq/kg, the content of 241 Am and 239+240 Pu are below the detection limit in most cases (<0,2 Bq/kg). Values of the radiation dose rate of plants are below the accepted international criteria. In general, the content of radionuclides in the plant cover of the “Aktan-Berli” site is significantly below the maximum permissible levels of radioactive contamination of forage plants posing no hazard when using the territory of interest for economic activities.