Sm. Wright et al., SPATIAL VARIATION IN THE VULNERABILITY OF NORWEGIAN ARCTIC COUNTIES TO RADIOCESIUM DEPOSITION, Science of the total environment, 202(1-3), 1997, pp. 173-184
Under the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), studies h
ave been undertaken to compare potential fluxes of radiocaesium via im
portant food products. The results for three Norwegian Arctic counties
are presented in this paper. The comparative importance of different
foodstuffs in contributing to collective dose varies spatially due to
differing rates of production and transfer. Although reindeer meat is
an important contributor to the radiocaesium flux following a nuclear
release, other food products such as cow milli and lamb have been iden
tified as potentially important. Assuming an even deposition following
a nuclear release the radiocaesium flux was estimated to be highest f
or reindeer meat in Finnmark and Troms, whereas cow milk gave the high
est flux in Nordland. The total number, geographical distribution and
diet composition of indigenous peoples within different Arctic regions
is an important factor affecting individual and collective doses aris
ing from a nuclear release. Finnmark has been shown to be the most vul
nerable of the three counties because it has the highest flux of radio
caesium and the largest number of indigenous people. The potential con
tribution of foodstuffs which are known to readily accumulate radiocae
sium needs further consideration, in particular, mushrooms, freshwater
fish and berries. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.