Summary report of the NKS-B / INDOFERN project. New indicator organisms for environmental radioactivity

The objective of the project was to identify new indicator organisms and biomarkers for assessment of environmental radioactivity in normal and emergency situations. The mechanisms of uptake and accumulation were also to be studied. Traditionally, many organisms have been successfully used in radioecology (such as lichens, mosses, mushrooms, mussels and macro algae, especially the bladder-wrack Fucus vesiculosus). The objective of the project was to search new useful organisms accumulating effectively and specifically certain radionuclides in various Nordic ecosystems (terrestrial, fresh water, marine), and to compare their indicator value with those of the earlier known indicators. Since the Chernobyl accident, there was plenty of data on 137Cs in biota but other radionuclides had been left to less attention. The aim of the project was to get more information on other long-lived nuclides (90Sr, Pu and Am) and the most abundant discharge nuclides from the nuclear power plants (e.g. 60Co). In addition, the usability of different organs and tissues of the organisms as indicators were to be studied. The study was expected to yield new data on the occurrence, transport and concentrations of many important radionuclides in potential candidates of indicator organisms concerning a wide scale of Nordic ecosystems. The choice of candidates should be based on references to literature concerning accumulation of radionuclides and stable elements to certain species or groups of organisms. Eight laboratories representing all the Nordic countries participated in the project: Risoe National Laboratory (Denmark), University of Faroe Islands, STUK (Finland), Icelandic Radiation Protection Institute, Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Institute for Energy Technology (Norway), Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Lund University (Sweden). This report summarizes the results of the whole project. More detailed results are presented in the papers published in these Proceedings by all the participating laboratories. (LN)