Incorporation of radiocesium by the population of regions in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine affected by the reactor accident in Chernobyl

This paper reports on the results of a 3-year humanitarian aid project in the CIS funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment. The main objective of the project was to supply the population with independent information on radiation burdens and thus improve their psychological situation. More than 317,000 measurements of post-Chernobyl body burdens of Cs-137 were performed in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine from 1991 to 1993. In about 90 % of the cases annual doses derived from the body burdens did not exceed 0.3 mSv. Less than 2% of the measurements resulted in annual doses higher than 1 mSv. Open communication of the results helped to reduce fears in the population. (author)