Radionuclide monitoring strategy for food-chain in Hungary

Annually about 3000 samples including foodstuff, feeding material, environmental samples, among them bioindicators are examined by the Radiological Monitoring Network of the Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development. Environmental monitoring strategy and major properties of the network are described. The median value of specific activity of 137Cs in all kinds of foodstuff produced in Hungary is below 0.1 Bq/kg fresh weight, based on regular countrywide survey. The committed effective dose due to ingestion for adults was estimated to be 0.6 μSv for 90Sr and 0.3 μSv for 137Cs in 2004 according to a conservative estimation. It is shown how 137Cs contamination due to the accidental release from the steel mill in Algeciras, Spain in 1998 could be detected by a county station of the network making use of the database of the whole network.