Doses from external and internal radiation in Norway during the first year after the Chernobyl accident

In this article the estimation of monthly doses from external radiation from internal radiation due to ingestion of contaminated food is reported. The monthly doses is estimated for each municipality in Norway for the first 13 months after the Chernobyl accident (from May 1986 to June 1987). The estimation which has been elaborated from an extensive data material, shows that the dose rates from external radiation due to the Chernobyl fallout were for the country as a whole three times higher in the first month after the accident (May 1986) compared with the twelfth month (April 1987). The doses received from intake of radiocesium through food were small in the first three months, but reached almost the double of the doses from the external radiation the 9th month. The reduction in the dose from external radiation was primarily due to the physical half life of radiocesium and washout. The increase in the doses from radiocesium through intake of food was due to the time required for radiocesium to enter the food chain and the biokinetics of radiocesium in humans. There is no significant correlation between the ground activity levels and the activity levels observed in the food which is consumed in the same area. The average internal dose in the first year after the Chernobyl accident was estimated to 0.110 ± 0.006 mSv and the external dose to 0.070 ± 0.007 mSv as an average for the whole country. 13 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs