Amount of 137Cs and 134Cs radionuclides in the Black Sea produced by the Chernobyl accident

Revised estimates of the amount of the nuclides 137Cs and 134Cs in the Black Sea resulting from the Chernobyl accident are reported. These results are at some variance with those reported by Chudinovskikh and Eremeev (Practical Ecology of Black Sea Areas, Naukova dumka, Kiev, 1990, pp. 46–56) and Nikitin et al. (Atomic Energy, 65 (1988) 134-7). The analysis here employs a spectral method whereas these other studies utilized less accurate methods. The study illustrates that the choice of numerical techniques for assimilating in-situ data into a model is important.