Countermeasures for animal products: a review of effectiveness and potential usefulness after an accident

Over the last decade, there has been considerable progress in the developme nt of countermeasures for preventing or reducing contamination of animal pr oducts by radioisotopes of iodine, caesium and strontium. In this paper, re cent significant technical improvements are summarised and the current avai lability of countermeasures and their usefulness in the event of a nuclear accident reviewed. An improved understanding of factors controlling the met abolism of radioiodine and radiostrontium has enabled previously suggested countermeasures to be either optimised or dismissed. For radiocaesium in pa rticular, experience since the Chernobyl accident has enabled effective and feasible countermeasures to be identified and successfully implemented in different situations. It has also been more widely understood that counterm easure effectiveness, although important, is not the only criterion which n eeds to be determined. In addition, cost and practical considerations such as availability, technical feasibility, acceptability and side-effects need to be taken into account. Evaluation of these factors has shown that some previously recommended countermeasures are unlikely to be feasible. (C) 200 1 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.