Speaker
Description
The Chernobyl accident in 1986 deposited radioisotopes like $^{137}$Cs over large parts of Europe. Having a half-life of 30.2 years, $^{137}$Cs is still present in nature, including in mushrooms as well as wild boars, and has become an integrated part in many natural food chains.
In this article, we describe our facility UGGLA (Uppsala Generic Gamma Lab). UGGLA is designed to measure specific radioactivity of biological samples using a High Purity Germanium detector in a lead cavity. In the paper, we discuss our experiences on how to get help from the general public to collect biological and geological samples from nature. We will also cover the challenges of specific radioactivity measurements in the cases of variation in density, chemical content and geometrical configuration in the context of of the ambition to measure a large amount of samples to correctly map large geographical areas.
Wild boars are notorious for their digging foraging style and love of mushrooms. They have recently immigrated to areas in Sweden with high cesium deposit. This has again actualized the question about how much $^{137}$Cs is present in food accessible for humans through foraging of mushroom and berries, or as game.
UGGLA is involved in the measurement of the specific activity of the meat of wild boars in the project called ObeliCs. In the project, we will measure the seasonal variation of the specific activity of the meat. In the paper, we will use measurements from ObeliCs to illustrate the challenges of such projects.