2. INTRODUCTION

The Dnieper is the third largest river in Europe (after the Volga and the Danube). It drains an area of 511 000 km2 and has a total length of 2200 km. Twenty per cent of the river basin lies within the territory of the Russian Federation, 23% in Belarus and the largest portion, 57%, in Ukraine. Thirty-two million people live in the Dnieper River basin [2.1]. Most of the land is arable and many crops (wheat, sugar beet, barley, rye, sunflower, flax, soybean, fruits and vegetables) are grown in the region.

Over 84% of the total annual river flow (about 45 km3) is collected in the upper parts of the basin (within Belarus and the Russian Federation). However, most of this water is consumed by

industrial and agricultural activities in Ukraine, where there is a series of large reservoirs. About 8.5 km3 discharges into the Black Sea, which is bordered by six countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine). The Dnieper River contributes a significant fraction of the total freshwater input to the Black Sea, along with various pollutants and contaminated sediments collected along the way [2.2–2.4].

Figure 2.1 shows the extent of the Dnieper River basin in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Major tributaries and towns are also shown.

FIG. 2.1. Map of the Dnieper Basin showing the network of rivers (courtesy of the UNDP).

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The river has suffered severe pollution and water quality deterioration during the past decades, which has affected access to safe drinking water for the millions of people living in the three riparian countries. The basin is no longer considered a selfregulating river ecosystem and is a serious threat to biota species and their habitats. As a result, assistance was requested from the international community to develop a strategic action plan (SAP) to protect the river in a sustainable manner, and through this to contribute to the protection of regional and global international waters [2.3].

This report is a contribution to the Dnieper Basin Environmental Programme (DBEP) by an international team of scientists under the direction of the IAEA. The DBEP is being carried out under the United Nations Development Programme — Global Environment Facility (UNDP–GEF).

In assessing the Dnieper River basin, the UNDP–GEF has identified radioactive contamination as one of the significant issues. A preliminary transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) was published for the Dnieper River basin in 1997 [2.3]. Subsequently, the IAEA was requested to contribute its expertise in radiation and environmental protection to a more detailed analysis involving a revision of the TDA and the preparation of a SAP. A summary report by the international expert team was provided to the UNDP in November 2002 [2.5]; this included scientific findings and conclusions derived from the assessment material (see Section 10 of this report), as well as a list of recommendations for the SAP and the national action plans (NAPs) (see Section 11). This report is a detailed radiological assessment in support of the statements, conclusions and recommendations provided in that summary report.

The international expert team for this study included scientists from Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine familiar with radioactive contamination in the Dnieper River basin and experienced in radiological assessments. A list of international expert team members and other contributors is given at the end of this report. To gather information for the study, two fact finding missions were undertaken. One of these was concerned with radiation and waste safety issues

and the other with the safety of nuclear power plants. Meetings and discussions were held in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine with scientific specialists, plant operators, regulatory personnel, representatives of ministries and local administrators. Inspections were carried out at the Chernobyl site, at uranium tailings management sites near Dniprodzerzhinsk and at the Ecores State waste management facility near Minsk. There were two meetings of the international expert team, and team members participated in a number of workshops organized by the UNDP–GEF.

This report includes 11 sections. Following this introduction, Section 3 identifies the major radiological sources within the Dnieper River basin. Each of these sources is assessed in subsequent sections (Chernobyl in Section 4, nuclear power plants in Section 5, uranium mining and processing in Section 6, other sources, including waste disposal sites and research facilities, in Section 7). Section 8 deals with an assessment of human exposure to radiation within the Dnieper River basin and Section 9 assesses radiological hot spots. The conclusions and recommendations are presented in Sections 10 and 11, respectively.

REFERENCES TO SECTION 2

[2.1] UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, Diagnostic Analysis for the Dnieper Basin, UNDP, New York (2003).

[2.2] BABCOCK, K., BARICA, J., Why the Dnieper? Water Qual. Res. J. Canada 33 (1998) 453–455.

[2.3] UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis for the Dnipro River Basin: Synthesis Report, UNDP–GEF, UNDP, New York (1997).

[2.4] UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, The Dnipro: Partnership for Environmental Rehabilitation, Information Bulletin of the UNDP–GEF Dnieper Basin Environment Programme, No. 1 (1998).

[2.5] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radioactive Contamination of the Dnieper River Basin: Contribution to the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and Recommendations for the Strategic Action Plan, Summary Report, Regional Technical Co-operation Project RER/9/072 (UNDP Project RER/98/G31), IAEA, Vienna (2002).

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