A COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL-RADIOACTIVITY IN SHELLFISH INHABITING THE COASTS OF KOREA AND JAPAN

To examine inshore radioactive contamination caused by nuclear power p lants, both gross beta-radioactivity and gamma-spectrometry was measur ed. The measurements were taken with the sea mussels, Mytilus coruscus and Mytilus edulis, which had been collected from the four different sites of nuclear power plants (Kori, Ulchin, Wolsong, and Younggwang), and Cheju-do as a control site. As a result, the gross beta-radioacti vity observed was similar to that in nature. Among radionuclides, only Cs-137, 20K, Be-7 and Co-60 were detected in a very small amount, and each was also close to the natural levels.