No abstract available

[en] In the context of nuclear accidents, milk is an important foodstuff because it is produced continually in large quantities. However, the availability of both practical advice and policy level guidance on the management of contaminated milk is limited. This report draws together information on the two strategic approaches that need to be considered: waste minimisation and disposal. Data sheets and decision trees are presented to guide the user through a range of potential management options. The practicability of these options is evaluated against a set of well-established criteria. Unsuitable options are also discussed. Finally, a concise, coherent framework on which to base a broad strategy for the management of contaminated milk is proposed which may be of use to senior government advisers. Recommendations for further work are also made so that any remaining uncertainties can be addressed. (author)

[en] The current IPSM electron beam dosimetry protocol recommends that the calibration of the NACP design plane parallel ionisation chamber be carried out in a cobalt-60 gamma ray beam. The availability of such cobalt units is becoming less common and may necessitate that the new UK recommendations for electron beam dosimetry expand on this calibration procedure. Against this background a number of NACP design plane parallel ionisation chambers have been calibrated in-phantom in a cobalt-60 gamma ray beam, in photon beams of nominal beam quality 4MV, 6MV, 9MV and 16MV respectively and in electron beams of nominal energy 9MeV, 12MeV, 15MeV, 17MeV and 20MeV respectively. The consistency in calibration for these different modalities and qualities are presented. The consistency between the results for the different ionisation chambers will also be commented upon. In addition extracted chamber factors are presented and discussed in comparison with other recently published values

[en] Areas in England and Wales are still subject to restrictions on tile movement, sale and slaughter of sheep because concentrations of radiocaesium in sheep meat may exceed the 1000 Bq kg^-1 limit imposed after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Various monitoring programmes have been implemented to enable lamb production to be sustained in these restricted areas, although no alternative management strategies have been considered to date. Current management practices have been reviewed and costed. An assessment has also been undertaken to establish the practicability and cost effectiveness of five alternative management options. The practicability of each option, which encompasses technical feasibility, capacity, cost, impact and acceptability, was assessed through a series of case studies carried out on farms in the restricted area of north Wales, and through consultation with a range of organisations with interests in farming and/or the environment. Recommendations are made for the future management of the restricted areas in England and Wales. (author)

[en] The Institute of Physical Sciences in Medicine (IPSM) have been funded by the UK Department of Health to carry out a national electron dosimetry intercomparison involving all radiotherapy centres in the country possessing electron beam treatment facilities. This will incorporate an overall audit of electron dosimetry, beam energy and procedures and is a follow up to the previous UK megavoltage photon dosimetry intercomparison (Thwaites et al. Phys.Med.Biol. 1992, 37:445). The aims of the project are to develop a methodology for clinical electron dosimetry audit and, using this, to collect data on a national scale to quantify the consistency in current UK practice. The results should identify problems in practices and encourage improvements in quality and will provide a standard baseline set of data against which individual centres can judge their performance and upon which ongoing routine audit of electron beams can be based. A number of these radiotherapy centres have also recently participated in an IAEA/WHO postal TLD based electron dosimetry intercomparison. The two different methodologies employed are described and preliminary results from the two studies compared

[en] A review has been carried out of the various options available for managing foodstuffs with activity concentrations in excess of the intervention levels specified by the European Union. There are three broad management options: in situ treatments, alternative uses and disposal. A total of eleven potential options were evaluated. The practicability of each option for use in the UK in the event of a future nuclear accident was assessed. This is affected by six main factors: technical feasibility, existing capacity, cost, environmental impact, radiological impact, and acceptability to the waste regulators, operators, farmers and members of the public. These factors have been evaluated quantitatively where possible. Recommendations are made on the most practicable options for managing cereals, vegetables, fruit and milk contaminated with radiocaesium and radiostrontium, and milk contaminated with ¹³¹I. (author)

[en] In the event of a future nuclear accident, European Council Food Intervention Levels (CFILs) would be legally binding for foodstuffs marketed in the UK. Practical guidance has been developed on the activity concentrations of radiocaesium and radiostrontium in animal feedstuffs that would give rise to concentrations equivalent to the relevant CFIL in the final animal product. The animals considered were dairy and beef cattle, lambs, pigs, broiler chickens and laying hens. Typical diets have been derived for each animal. The NRPB foodchain model FARMLAND has been used to predict activity concentrations in different feedstuffs for accidents occurring at different times of the year. The predicted concentrations were combined with the data on dietary composition, information on feed-to-product transfer and the relevant CFIL to estimate the corresponding Working levels in Animal Feedstuffs (WAFs). The calculations were carried out using a dedicated software system called SILAFOD. This flexible system can be used to carry out more specific assessments. A handbook that accompanies this report contains detailed information on animal diets, contributions from various feedstuffs to intakes of activity and the corresponding WAFs. The early phase after an accident and the longer-term phase are both considered. The work received partial financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Radiological Safety and Nutrition Division. (author)

[en] Epoxy-resin phantom materials have been available for some time and are widely used for dosimetry purposes, not least in audit phantoms. Information on their behaviour is partially available in the literature, but there are different formulations and mixes, often given similar names and it may not be appropriate to transfer information from one to another. Four commercially available epoxy-resin water-substitute phantom materials have been evaluated for use in megavoltage photon beams. These are the original White formulation (WT1) and a development of this carried out to produce an electron beam phantom material (WTe), both of which are produced commercially by Radiation Physics at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London; and two plastics produced by RMI, Wisconsin, the original 'solid water' mix, RMI 451 and the later version which replaced it, RMI 457. Four independent experiments were carried out to compare these materials to water in megavoltage photon beams ranging from cobalt-60 to 16 MV and some general conclusions are drawn from the results as to the use of these plastics. All of them are suitable for relative dosimetry in megavoltage beams. However differences of up to approximately 1% are involved for absolute measurements. The newer formulations, originally developed to give better matches to water for electron beam use (WTe, RMI 457) are better also for use in megavoltage photon beam situations

[en] A database of soil-to-plant transfer factors (TFs) for radiocaesium and radiostrontium has been compiled from published and unpublished sources. The database is more extensive than previous compilations of data, containing new information for Scandinavia and Greece, in particular. It also contains ancillary data on important soil characteristics. Simple regression analyses showed that TFs for radiocaesium or radiostrontium could not be predicted as a function of individual soil parameters, owing to the inherent variability in the data and insufficient numbers of records for certain soil-crop combinations. Despite the absence of any robust mathematical relationships, low levels of exchangeable potassium were shown to be associated with significantly higher TFs for radiocaesium. Best estimate values of TFs were calculated for twenty-eight soil-crop combinations, covering four soil types and seven crop groups, based on their geometric means: only the edible parts were considered. To predict the likely range of future individual TFs, 95% confidence intervals were also derived. (author)

[en] Full text: A Workshop to extend the Involvement of Stakeholders in Decisions On restoration Management (WISDOM) will be held in Oxford in September 2003. The aim of the workshop is to promote awareness and interest in the wider application of stakeholder involvement in the formulation of strategies for the management of contaminated agricultural land and produce following a nuclear accident. A network of stakeholder groups has already been set up under the auspices of the European Communities 5th Framework Programme (FP5). The network, given the acronym FARMING, involves more than 100 stakeholders in UK, Finland, Belgium, Greece and France. Membership tends to be at a senior level and comprises a wide range of Government and non-government organizations, including the farming sector, the food, milk and water industries, consumers and green groups. The stakeholder groups have met regularly since 2001 and have advanced contingency planning and emergency response, both nationally and on a European basis. A compendium of countermeasure options produced by another FP5 project, STRATEGY, has helped provide stakeholders with a common focus for discussion and evaluation. The 2 1/2 day workshop comprises a mixture of invited and proffered papers as well as facilitated group discussions and plenary sessions that will address the following issues: lessons learnt from stakeholder engagement; influence of regional characteristics on countermeasure selection; practical aspects of countermeasure implementation; crisis management; maintaining consumer confidence; acceptability of intervention limits; social, ethical and economic consequences; future prospects for stakeholder networks. More than 30 FARMING stakeholders and facilitators have expressed an interest in attending the WISDOM workshop. GOs and NGOs will both be represented. There will also be representatives from the STRATEGY project and the European Commission. Invitations have been issued to representatives of a further 10 member states not currently part of the FARMING network. This paper will describe the main results from the WISDOM workshop including any recommendations that the participants would like national governments and international bodies to consider in the context of emergency management of food production systems. (author)