Low Level Gamma Spectroscopy Measurements of Radium and Cesium in Lucerne (Medicago Sativa)

Nineteen years after Chernobyl nuclear accident, activity concentration of 137Cs still could be detected in food and soil samples in Central and Eastern Europe. In this paper radiation levels of radium and cesium in Lucerne will be presented. It is a perennial plant with a deep root system and it is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle. The samples of Lucerne were taken from twelve different locations in Vojvodina in the summer period July-September 2004. The samples were specially dried on the air and after that ground, powdered and mineralized by method of dry burning on the temperature of 450 deg C. Gamma spectrometry measurements of the ash were performed by means of actively shielded germanium detector with maximal background reduction. For cesium 137Cs 10 mBq/kg order of magnitude detection limits were achieved.