DETERMINATION OF RADIONUCLIDES 137CS AND 40K IN WILD BOAR MEAT IN VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The aim of the study was to investigate the contamination of wild animals by radionuclide Cs-137 in various regions of the Czech Republic 30 years after the Chernobyl accident. Since the Cs-137 content in wild boars (Sus scrofa L.) muscular tissue from areas with a higher area contamination (over 13 kBq/m(2)) has been monitored regularly, attention was focused on areas with low and medium area contamination (below 1 kBq/m and 2,2-5,5 kBq/m(2) respectively) immediately after the accident. The activities of Cs-137 and K-40 radionuclides were determined by the gamma-ray spectrometric method in 38 samples of muscular tissue. The methodology for the determination of both radionuclides was adapted depending on the different sample sizes of the meat collected. The activities of both radionuclides in individual samples in four different locations are presented, including combined uncertainty of determination. The results of Cs-137 activities in wild boars indicate that after such a time the type of ecosystem (either forest or agricultural ecosystem) in which wild boars live is more influential than the initial deposition of radionuclide Cs-137 in April and May 1986. The concentration of radionuclide K-40 is similar for all wild boars and corresponds with the metabolism of this biogenic element.