Long-term accumulation factors for fish and sediments in the Bavarian Danube area

The legislation governing radiation protection in a great many countries stipulates the dose limits for human beings thereby restricting the permissible emission of radioactive waste products into the environment. For this purpose mathematical models are formulated which permit the corresponding dose from the emission rates of nuclear systems and facilities to be established. In these models the biological transfer factors are of prime importance. When observing the various exposure routes involved in waste disposal it will be seen that a considerable proportion of the resulting dose stems from eating fish and from exposure to the environment of dried-up river banks. The paper presents the accumulation factors for fish and sediments for a few of the most common elements occuring in nuclear power stations, obtained from many years of investigations in the Bavarian Danube area. (author)