Experts of the Institute of nuclear research and nuclear energy, among which members of the Cyclotron physics laboratory, on the basis of the institute’s existing monitoring system, confirm that there is no increase in the radioactive background in the country and no further radiation protection measures are needed.
On Saturday, April 4th 2020, a fire emerged in the limited access area around Nuclear plant Chernobyl. It coverd an area of over 100 hectares of forests and grasslands in the so-called. Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve. The climatic situation – very dry and snowless winter and strong winds in early April, helped for the occurrence of the fire. Unlike in previous years, the fire has now reached the Chernobyl site and the nearby high-level radioactive waste repository in Ukraine. This fact should not instill fear in the people since even if the fire enters the site itself, it should be known that all facilities on its territory, which contain radioactive substances, are made of non-combustible materials – metal and reinforced concrete structures. . The storage in question is built in accordance with all modern safety rules.
In connection with media reports about the fire in the Chernobyl area and the ensuing concern among some people, it should be borne in mind that in Republic of Bulgaria there is a continuous monitoring of the gamma background by five agencies:
- The Executive Environment Agency at the Ministry of Environment and Water maintains the National Automated System for Continuous Gamma Background Control (BULRaMo system).
- The National Center for Radiobiology and Radiation Protection at the Ministry of Health performs gamma background measurements at one point.
- The General Directorate “Civil Protection” at the Ministry of Internal Affairs receives data from the measurement of the gamma background from 335 posts located in municipal administrations and from 28 posts located in district administrations.
- Kozloduy NPP measures the gamma background through the Automated Information System for External Radiation Control, which is integrated with the BULRaMo system and through the Automated Information System for Radiation Monitoring “Katrin”.
- The Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at BAS (INRNE – BAS) performs measurements on Musala peak and in 7 different points on the territory of the institute and the research reactor IRT-2000 in Scientific Complex-2, Sofia.
When inquiring about the condition of the gamma radiation background for the city of Sofia (six detectors positioned at different points of the Research Reactor of the INRNE – BAS) for the period 1 – 15.04.2020 it was found that the average daily values vary from 0.11 to 0.13 µSv / h.
The average daily values of the gamma radiation background at peak Musala vary in the same period from 0.14 to 0.16 µSv/h.
At the territory of Republic of Bulgaria the natural radiation gamma background is in the range from 0.06 to 0.40 µSv/h, i.e. the measurements are within the norm.
The registered quantities of 137Cs can be judged after the samples from the system for early warning of cross-border transfer of radioactive substances, operating around the clock BEO – Musala, are measured. At an altitude of about 3000 meters, high-speed air transport is a clear indicator of the cross-border transport of radioactive substances. That is why the data obtained at Musala Peak are extremely important for assessing the radioactive situation not only in Bulgaria, but also for the whole of Southeast Europe.
Based on the current measurements, it can be concluded that there is no risk for the population of Bulgaria and no radiation protection measures need to be taken.