Skip to main content

Forest ecosystems : classification of restoration options, consider ing dose reduction, long-term ecological quality and economic factors

Objective


Foreseen Results

The proposal is aimed ad the classification of countermeasures options in different forest types, considering the balance between dose reduction (internal and external), long-term ecological quality and economical factors.

On the basis of the results obtained, a classification of countermeasures on forest systems, taking into account the impact of environmental restoration on radiation exposure of the population and workers, on the economic conditions and on the long-term ecological quality, will be suggested to decision makers for the management of contaminated forested territories.
This project will link closely with currently ongoing EU Nuclear Fission Safety research programmes : "Long Term Dynamics of Radionuclides in Semi-Natural Environments : Derivation of Parameters and Modelling (SEMINAT)" and"Restoration Strategies for Radioactive Contaminated Ecosystems (RESTORE)".

The first phase of this project is to perform an evaluation of CIS experimental data (1986-1995), resulting from the application of different remedial actions in Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian forested territories, will be carried out considering the short term benefits and harms. The aim of such analysis is to take into account the balance between all the relevant factors involved (averted individual and collective doses, monetary cost and social impact), to determine the short term net benefits of the different countermeasures.

In the second phase, experimental activities will be conducted in the CIS contaminated forests, to determine the long-term impact of the different countermeasures from radiological and environmental point of view (runoff of the radionuclides outside the forest, washout of nutrients, pollution of the groundwater by radionuclides or fertilizers, radionuclide contamination of forest products, reduction in the nutritive quality of the food and fodder products etc.). The workprogramme is also intended to look at the consequences of countermeasures on ecological functionality/species diversity/population structure, particularly with respect to decomposer populations (microbes, invertebrates, etc.). In addition, dietary surveys of the population of interest (forestry workers, people living in the forested areas, people consuming forest products) will be carried out to determine the contribution of forest products to the ingestion dose. External doses to forestry workers and to people using timber will also be considered. To assess the effects of the remedial actions, experimental activities will also be carried out in areas where countermeasures were not applied.

The third phase of this project will permit a comparative evaluation of the net benefit of the different remedial actions in the different forests, in terms of dose reduction, long-term environmental impact and economic factors.

Call for proposal

Data not available

Coordinator

Agenzia Nazionale per la Protezione dell'Ambiente
Address
Via Vitaliano Brancati
00144 Roma
Italy

See on map

Participants (7)

Belarusian State University
Belarus
Address
14,leningradskaya Str.
220080 Minsk

See on map

GSF-RESEARCH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Germany
Address
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1
85764 Oberschleissheim

See on map

Institute of Agricultural Radiology and Agroecology
Russia
Address
Kievskoy
249020 Obninsk

See on map

Institute of Forest - Belorussian Academy of Science
Belarus
Address
Proletarskaya St.
246654 Gomel

See on map

Jozef Stefan Institute
Slovenia
Address
39,jamova
1111 Ljubljana

See on map

RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE OF IRELAND
Ireland
Address
Clonskeagh Square 3
14 Dublin

See on map

Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Research Institute
Ukraine
Address
37,prospekt Nauki
252028 Kiev

See on map