Quantitative assessment of radionuclide migration from near-surface radioactive waste burial sites: the waste dumps in the Chernobyl exclusion zone as an example

Abstract: This chapter aims to describe the lessons learned from the studies of radionuclide behaviour in the vicinity of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as an example of radionuclide migration in a contaminated surface site. Between 1999 and 2008, we improved our understanding of the hydrogeological, geochemical and biotic processes that govern in situ radionuclide migration in the Red Forest waste dumps of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. We present here a short overview of the methods followed and of the current understanding on how 90 Sr was/is/will be released in the unsaturated zone and transported to the aquifer, taking into account different levels of complexity in a real environment.