Dispersion and deposition of radionuclides from Chernobyl

When the Chernobyl accident occurred there was a need for rapid assessment of the geographical distribution of contamination to aid decisions on precautionary protective measures. Each country required information not only on its own home territory but throughout Europe to safeguard citizens abroad and regulate food imports. This paper describes some of the problems in assembling and interpreting data in such circumstances, and how computer models have been used to simulate the pathways of radionuclides from the reactor to the site of measurement to check consistency and provide a coherent picture of environmental contamination. (author)