Studies of the rate of migration of radiocesium in some types of soils of Eastern Poland

The activity of Cs-137 and Cs-134 in some types of soils of Eastern Poland was studied. The contribution of Cs-137 from post-Chernobyl fall-out as a function of depth in the soil profiles was calculated from the Cs-134:Cs-137 activity ratio taken from the literature just after the Chernobyl accident. Such information makes it possible to calculate the rate of vertical migration of radiocesium in various types of soils. The rate of the post-Chernobyl Cs-137 migration was found to exceed the rate of migration of Cs-137 from experimental nuclear explosions in the atmosphere. Cs-137 from the Chernobyl accident was found in a layer of soil a few cms thick in most of the soils which were examined. The contribution of post-Chernobyl radiocesium to the total contamination of the surface layer (0–5 cm) with cesium was ≈77%.