Analysis of the contribution of forest pathways to the radiation exposure of different population groups in the Bryansk region of Russia

The experience gained in the aftermath of serious radiation accidents shows that forests are an important source of external and internal exposure of the affected population. This paper presents the results of an assessment o f the major radiological consequences for forests of Russia, most heavily c ontaminated after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) accident. Illus trated in the Novozybkovsky district of the Russian Federation, the signifi cance of different forest exposure pathways is estimated and the doses resu lting from forest pathways are compared with the doses from agricultural pr oducts. It has been found that the contribution of mushrooms and berries to the internal doses of the population, relative to the doses from agricultu ral products, varied from 10-15% in 1987 to 40-45% in 1996. The results ind icate large differences in internal exposure of members of the "critical gr oups" and "normal population", increasing with time after deposition. Data are presented that give information on the contribution of forests to the c ollective doses of inhabitants of the area under consideration. It has been shown that for 10 years after the accident (1987-1996), the contribution o f forest products to the collective dose of the rural population living in contaminated forests of the Novozybkovsky district, amounts to about 20% (2 13 person Sv) of the total collective dose of internal and external exposur es. However, a potential impact of these products including the dose from e xported products is much higher and might reach 659 person Sv. It has been found that in the long-term after the ChNPP accident, serious attention sho uld be given to forest countermeasures, and restoration strategies should b e selected on the basis of a combined analysis of the effectiveness of fore st and agricultural countermeasures.