title: An extended critical review of twenty years of countermeasures used in agriculture after the Chernobyl accident.
abstract: A wide range of different countermeasures has been used to mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident for agriculture in affected regions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The paper comprehensively brings together key data on countermeasure application over twenty years for all three countries and critically evaluates the response to the accident with respect to agriculture. The extents of countermeasures implementation in various periods following the ChNPP accident are documented. Examples of best practices and drawbacks in remediation of affected areas are identified. Data on the effectiveness of agricultural countermeasures have been evaluated and the impact of countermeasures implementation to mitigate consequences of the accident has been assessed for the period 1986-2006. Implementation of agricultural countermeasures averted 30-40% of the internal collective dose that would have been received by the residents of affected regions without the use of countermeasures. The current situation in agriculture of areas subjected to contamination following the Chernobyl accident is described. Current and future needs for remediation, including a consideration of various strategies of rehabilitation of affected areas are presented.
authors.affiliation: International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. s.fesenko@iaea.org
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Fesenko
authors.forename: Rudolf M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Alexakhin
authors.forename: Mikhail I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Balonov
authors.forename: Iossif M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Bogdevitch
authors.forename: Brenda J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: Valery A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kashparov
authors.forename: Natalia I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Sanzharova
authors.forename: Alexey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Panov
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Yury M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zhuchenka
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D003657:Decision Making; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D011210:Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods; D002094:Republic of Belarus; D012426:Russia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis; D014455:Ukraine; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive