Formation of dose burdens to man and the environment

The experience gained when cleaning up the accident in the Southern Urals in 1957 has served as a basis for the development of plans for long term safe habitation of areas contaminated by long lived nuclides, and the safe use of such areas for production purposes. Whether land is fit for long term habitation depends upon the permissible density of radioactive contamination in the area, and this can be evaluated in terms of the ratio of the emergency dose limit over the whole lifetime (70 years) to the potential combined exposure dose over the same period. Whether contaminated land can be used for production purposes is determined on the basis of an evaluation of the permissible radioactive contamination density, calculated as the ratio of the established permissible concentrations of a radionuclide in a specific type of produce to the real concentrations expressed in terms of the unit contamination density. When permissible concentrations rise, the type of production must be changed; for instance agricultural land must be turned over to other types of produce for which the permissible concentrations are higher. This means a change in the economic structure of the contaminated region. (author). 2 tabs