Objective
Foreseen Results
With this knowledge, it will be possible to make informed decisions about the most effective use of countermeasures, especially with a view to reclaiming abandoned land. Studies assessing countermeasure use at existing study sites will therefore continue, and will be extended to the new sites. Knowledge of countermeasure effectiveness and level of contamination, and understanding of the environmental processes affecting transfer will therefore contribute to effective decision making on the viability of bringing abandoned land back into food production. In this project, countermeasure use will be assessed both in terms of effectiveness and acceptability to the population. This has been shown to be an important consideration in gaining the support of the population and effectively lowering doses.
This proposal will study the long-term effects of radioactive contamination in areas of the Newly Independent States (NIS) that have been affected from different sources.
The pathways and processes which resulting dose being received by the population will be thoroughly quantified at a number of different study sites. This will include areas contaminated by fallout from the Semipalatinsk Testing Range, areas contaminated by accidental and routine discharges from the Mayak Reprocessing Facility and areas contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Existing experimental data from the different study areas will be analyzed to give an indication of the variation in importance of different exposure pathways with time. Improved understanding of time-dependent influences in dose formation will improve future predictions of dose. The existing data will then be supplemented by current information. External doses will be assessed using methods that allow the breakdown of the external dose into constituent parts. Internal doses will be assessed through detailed investigation of food production and radionuclide transfer. Different population groups will be monitored for whole-body content and the results interpreted in conjunction with the findings of parallel dietary surveys. With this information it will be possible to assess the relative importance of different food production systems to population dose. This is important because existing studies have shown that current models may underestimate the importance of consumption of natural foodstuffs, such as mushrooms, which can accumulate high levels of radiocaesium.
Investigation of how these influences vary between study sites will offer an indication of how environmental and human characteristics affect trends in dose. This will assist with identification of the operative parameters that have greatest influence on transfer of radioactivity to the population under a given situation.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
1345 OSTERAS
Norway