The classification of Russian soils on the basis of transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to farm crops

Abstract

The IAEA Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection include the general requirement to keep all doses as low as reasonably achievable, taking account of economic and social considerations, within the overall constraint of individual dose limits. National and Regional authorities have to set release limits for radioactive effluent and also to establish contingency plans to deal with an uncontrolled release following an accident or terrorist activity. It is normal practice to assess radiation doses to man by means of radiological assessment models. In this context the IAEA published (1994), in cooperation with the International Union of Radioecologists (IUR), a Handbook of Parameter Values for the Prediction of Radionuclide Transfer in Temperate Environments to facilitate such calculations. The obvious limitation of the Handbook is that the data on soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides are strictly relevant only to temperate climates. Therefore, the IAEA, together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the IUR, conducted a coordinated research project (CRP), to obtain similar data in tropical and sub-tropical regions. A conclusion of this research was that some combinations of ecosystems and radionuclides do not behave as might be expected. A consultants meeting held in May 1998 produced a proposal for a CRP to address the issue of identifying such situations in temperate as well as tropical and sub-tropical conditions. The IAEA acknowledges the contributions of all the participants to this CRP and in particular the mentoring of M. Frissel (Netherlands) and work undertaken by R.J. Hance (UK) in reviewing the individual contributions presented at the final research coordination meeting held in Chania, Crete from 22–26 September, 2003. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were M.A. Matin, J. Brodesser and I.G. Ferris of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.