Summary of principles for intervention in food and drinking water in a radiological emergency developed by several international organizations

After the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 it became clear that the guidelines on the management of the consequence of a nuclear accident were needed for action over long time scales and for dealing with the widespread radioactive contamination that affected many countries at distances far from the accident site. One of the major difficulties in area away from the site of a nuclear accident concerns decisions on the safety of contaminated food and drinking water. International organizations, ICRP, IAEA, WHO and several other organizations, have considered it appropriate to develop guidelines to assist national authorities in making decisions on the control of food in the event of widespread contamination by radionuclides in a radiological emergency. These guidelines and the recommendations for intervention in food and drinking water by WHO, ICRP and CEC are summarized, and the considerations and problems to adopt the guidelines are proposed in this paper. (author)