Radionuclide Content in Needles of Pinus sylvestris L. in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic (Western Caucasus)

This study presents original data on the content of radionuclides of natural (primordial and cosmogenic) and man-made origin in the assimilation apparatus of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), which grows in the Western Caucasus (within the Karachay-Cherkess Republic). The contents of radioisotopes of beryllium (7Be), potassium (40K), thorium (232Th), uranium (238U) and cesium (137Cs) were detected in the pine needles. Close correlation with the height of the growing site of 7Be, 238U, and 137Cs contents in pine needle samples was identified.