Determination of background radionuclide activity levels in Pelophylax bedriagae (Rana bedriagae) (Amfibia: Anura)populations living in the habitats close to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant

All living things, and therefore animals, need special habitats in order to survive and maintain their vital activities. These habitats contain common or different requirements for each living group. Our environment is constantly polluted both by natural factors and by anthropogenic processes such as industrialization, mining activities and urbanization. Both terrestrial and aquatic forms are directly or indirectly affected by this pollution. Amphibians, who spend their lives in two separate phases, are exposed to pollutants brought by both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. For this reason, amphibian species are defined as bioindicator species, which are widely used in ecostem and habitat pollution. While environmental factors are being evaluated with the technological developments in recent years; Natural radiation is also must be taken into account. All living things in the world are exposed to background radiation. Natural sources of radiation include cosmic rays, radioactive materials that originate from the components that make up our planet, and are also in the structure of us and all other living things. This exposure is of little or no public concern in most cases, but conservation measures need to be taken into account for the health of ecosystems. Republic of Turkey signed a cooperation agreement with ROSATOM, a Russian-based nuclear energy company, in 2010, which proposes the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant with VVER-1200 reactor, four power units and a total power capacity of 4800 MW in the Büyükeli district of Mersin. Although nuclear power plants release small amounts of radioactivity to the environment, these emissions may affect environmental health. It is recommended to evaluate the environmental impacts of a nuclear power plant before it starts to work, during operation and after the end of its mission. In this context, it is necessary to define, measure and evaluate the existing radionuclides around the facility and to define the fluctuations that may occur in the radioactivity levels before a nuclear energy plant begins operating, As a result of this, Pelophylax bedriagea which is in the Anura ordo of amphibians, was determined as a biomonitor species to evaluate the radiation activity of the Akkuyu NPP area. The data obtained in this thesis support the use of this species as a biomonitor species for radioactivity evaluations. As a result of the biomonitoring studies carried out in 5 different localities, it has been determined that the 30 km safety zone around the Akkuyu NPP site is in the normal areas class in terms of radioactivity. This study, in which the radiological background radiation levels of the Akkuyu NPP environment are determined, is very important in terms of contributing to the creation of a basic data library in terms of evaluating the possible effects that can be observed in the ecosystem in line with the operation of the power plant.