TURNOVER AND CONCENTRATION OF RADIONUCLIDES IN FOOD CHAINS.
Proliferation of nuclear technology and concern for radioactivity in the biosphere demand more sophisticated evaluations of future nuclear installations and procedures. Adequate analyses of radionuclide dispersion in the environment will require more substantial bioenvironmental information than is...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | unknown |
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2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/4758703 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4758703 |
| Summary: | Proliferation of nuclear technology and concern for radioactivity in the biosphere demand more sophisticated evaluations of future nuclear installations and procedures. Adequate analyses of radionuclide dispersion in the environment will require more substantial bioenvironmental information than is presently available. Frequently information known for one ecological system (e.g., arctic tundra) will not be applicable to other ecosystems (e.g., temperate or tropical forests). Only with sufficient ecological data can predictive models be developed that will enable assessment of the environmental consequences of radioactive contamination. A simple source-pathway-receptor model, analogous to the ecological food chain, requires pathway identification, data on assimilation by each link (organism) in the pathway, and determination of the biological turnover of each radionuclide. For acute release of radioactivity to the environment, evaluation of these variables is needed to predict time-dependent concentrations of radioactivity in organisms. For Chronic releases, concentration factors alone will often suffice. The biological concentration and turnover of radionuclides by animals are summarized in this paper. Data are presented for use in environmental models and correlation with species characteristics (e.g., body size) that allow estimation of absolute values for many different animal groups based on existing experimental data. |
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