INTERNAL EXPOSURE FROM THE INGESTION OF FOODS CONTAMINATED BY CS-137 AFTER THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT - REPORT-1 - GENERAL-MODEL - INGESTION DOSES AND COUNTERMEASURE EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE ADULTS OF ROVNO-OBLAST OFUKRAINE

The Chernobyl accident, which occurred in April 1986, resulted in the atmospheric release of about 70-100 PBq of Cs-137. This paper examines the doses to the adult population of the northern part of Rovno Oblas t, Ukraine, from ingestion of Cs-137, Fallout of Cs-137 in these regio ns was lower than in other regions of Ukraine, However, the transfer o f Cs-137 from soil to milk in the region considered is high (up to 20 Bq L(-1) per kBq m(-2)) and results in the predominance of internal do ses compared to those from external exposure, Numerous measurements of Cs-137 soil deposition, Cs-137 milk contamination, and Cs-137 body bu rden have been made in the area and form the basis of a general model of internal exposure from the ingestion of foods contaminated by Cs-13 7. This paper has two main purposes. The first is to develop the gener al phenomenological description of the process leading to internal exp osure from the ingestion of Cs-137 contaminated foods in the situation where different countermeasures are realized, The second is to apply the model for the adult population of the northern part of the Rovno O blast (first report) for the limited time period of up to six years af ter the accident, The doses actually received by the adults are estima ted to be four to eight times smaller than the doses calculated for th e situation without countermeasures.