An extended critical review of twenty years of countermeasures used in agriculture after the Chernobyl accident.

A wide range of different countermeasures has been used to mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident for agriculture in affected regions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The paper comprehensively brings together key data on countermeasure application over twenty years for all three countries and critically evaluates the response to the accident with respect to agriculture. The extents of countermeasures implementation in various periods following the ChNPP accident are documented. Examples of best practices and drawbacks in remediation of affected areas are identified. Data on the effectiveness of agricultural countermeasures have been evaluated and the impact of countermeasures implementation to mitigate consequences of the accident has been assessed for the period 1986-2006. Implementation of agricultural countermeasures averted 30-40% of the internal collective dose that would have been received by the residents of affected regions without the use of countermeasures. The current situation in agriculture of areas subjected to contamination following the Chernobyl accident is described. Current and future needs for remediation, including a consideration of various strategies of rehabilitation of affected areas are presented.

Assessment of current exposure of the population living in the Techa River basin from radioactive releases of the Mayak facility.

Current doses arising from external and internal pathways have been estimated for the residents of two villages, Muslumovo and Brodokalmak, alongside the Techa River, which was contaminated by radioactive releases from the Mayak production facility. The dose estimates are based on numerous environmental measurements supplemented by further human whole body measurements and studies on occupational and dietary habits of Slavic and Turkish ethnic groups. Estimated doses arise mainly from use of the contaminated floodplains alongside the Techa River. The current average annual effective dose attributable to Cs and Sr in the environment, under conditions where restrictions on some river-related activities are in place, may exceed the Russian national action level of 1 mSv only in the hypothetical critical group of herdsmen in Muslumovo. The dose to this critical group in Brodokalmak is assessed to be 3 times less than that in Muslumovo and 2 fold below the action level. The external and internal exposures give comparable contributions to the total dose in both settlements and population groups: 47% and 53% in Muslumovo and 40% and 60% in Brodokalmak, respectively. About one quarter to one half of the internal dose in adults arises from the intake of Sr. In order to avoid substantial increases in the dose received by Muslumovo residents, it is expedient to prolong the current policy of restriction of some river-related population activities in this village.