Radioactive contamination: state of the science and its application to predictive models

Information on environmental levels and transport processes of natural and anthropogenic radioactivity, although plentiful, is widely scattered, and r elatively few attempts have been made to summarize and synthesize this info rmation. Furthermore, most experimental observations and experiments on env ironmental radioactivity have been designed for documentation or testing of specific hypotheses, rather than for providing key information for transpo rt simulation models or on fundamental processes which such models seek to represent. This paper examines three basic questions, namely (1) what is th e current state of the science of radioecology?; (2) how well is this scien ce being incorporated into predictive models?; and (3) how well are the mod els being used to guide and improve the science? These discussions will be preceded by a brief description of the field of radioecology, and comments on its relevance to other sciences as well as to major societal problems st emming from environmental releases of radioactivity. In addition to assessi ng the current state of the science and its use in predictive models, speci fic ideas for improving both the science and its associated models will be advanced. These ideas fall under the categories of(1)environmental transpor t processes and model parameters, (2) estimating exposure and dose to human and ecological receptors, and (3) dose-effect relationships for plants and animals. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.