Pollution: Chernobyl's legacy in food and water

Smith, J.T.; Comans, R.N.J.; Beresford, N.A.; Wright, S.M.; Howard, B.J.; Camplin, W.C.

Smith, J.T.; Comans, R.N.J.; Beresford, N.A.; Wright, S.M.; Howard, B.J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9698-9524; Camplin, W.C.. 2000 Pollution: Chernobyl's legacy in food and water. Nature, 405 (6783). 141. 10.1038/35012139

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Abstract

Radiocaesium (137Cs) from the 1986 Chernobyl accident has persisted in freshwater fish in a Scandinavian lake for much longer than was expected1. On the basis of new data generalizing this observation, we propose that the continuing mobility of 137Cs in the environment is due to the so-called 'fixation' process of radiocaesium in the soil tending towards a reversible steady state. Our results enable the contamination of foodstuffs by Chernobyl fallout to be predicted over the coming decades. Restrictions in the United Kingdom, for example, may need to be retained for a further 10–15 years — more than 100 times longer than originally estimated.

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Official URL:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v405/n6783/fu...

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/35012139

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CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Other

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