Spatial datasets of radionuclide contamination in the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The dataset “Spatial datasets of radionuclide contamination in the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone” was developed to enable data collected between May 1986 (immediately after Chernobyl) and 2014 by the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology (UIAR) after the Chernobyl accident to be made publicly available. The dataset includes results from comprehensive soil sampling across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Analyses include radiocaesium (134Cs and 134Cs) 90Sr, 154Eu and soil property data; plutonium isotope activity concentrations in soil (including distribution in the soil profile); analyses of “hot” (or fuel) particles from the CEZ (data from Poland and across Europe are also included); and results of monitoring in the Ivankov district, a region adjacent to the exclusion zone. The purpose of this paper is to describe the available data and methodology used to obtain them. The data will be valuable to those conducting studies within the CEZ in a number of ways, for instance (i) for helping to perform robust exposure estimates to wildlife, (ii) for predicting comparative activity concentrations of different key radionuclides, (iii) for providing a baseline against which future surveys in the CEZ can be compared, (iv) as a source of information on the behaviour of fuel particles (FPs), (v) for performing retrospective dose assessments and (vi) for assessing natural background dose rates in the CEZ. The CEZ has been proposed as a “radioecological observatory” (i.e. a radioactively contaminated site that will provide a focus for long-term, radioecological collaborative international research). Key to the future success of this concept is open access to data for the CEZ. The data presented here are a first step in this process. The data and supporting documentation are freely available from the Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) under the terms and conditions of the Open Government Licence: https://doi.org/10.5285/782ec845-2135-4698-8881-b38823e533bf.