Languages:
 

Major radioactive substances released by the Chernobyl accident

with quantities expressed in exabecquerel (EBq)

Radioactive substance half-life EBq
iodine-131 8.04 days 1.760
caesium-137 30 years 0.085
strontium-90 29.12 years 0.010
plutonium-241 (which decays into Americium-241) 14.4 years
430 years
0.003
others ~ 12.140
Total radioctivity released 14

For more complete information on the principal radioisotopes released during the Chernobyl accident, see the  full report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group 'Environment', Table 3.1, p.19

Related publication:
Chernobyl homeChernobyl Nuclear Accident
Other Figures & Tables on this publication:

Figure 1. Surface-ground deposition of 137Cs throughout Europe as a result of the Chernobyl accident (De Cort et al. 1998)

Figure 2. Pathways of exposure to man from environmental releases of radioactive materials

Figure 3. Incidence rate of thyroid cancer in children and adolescents exposed to 131I as a result of the Chernobyl accident (Jacob et al., )

Figure 4. Prevalence at birth of congenital malformations in 4 oblasts of Belarus with high and low levels of radio nuclide contamination (Lazjuk et al., 1999)

Figure 5. Reduction with time of 137Cs activity concentration in milk produced in private and collective farms of the Rovno region of Ukraine with a comparison to the temporary permissible level (TPL)

Figure 6. Averaged 137Cs activity concentrations in fish from Kyiv reservoir (UHMI 2004)

Figure 7. Changes with time in the use of Prussian blue in the CIS countries (IAEA, )

Figure 10. What worries you most today?

Where is Chernobyl located?

Administrative regions surrounding the Chernobyl reactor

Table: Summary of average accumulated doses to affected populations from Chernobyl fallout

Table: Chernobyl-related construction, 1986-2000

Figure 1. Surface-ground deposition of 137Cs throughout Europe as a result of the Chernobyl accident (De Cort et al. 1998)

Major radioactive substances released by the Chernobyl accident

Radiation Units

Footnote