Risk analysis of ingestion dose through food chain using imprecise probability

In the field of nuclear technology risk assessment due to inadvertent release of radioactivity during mal-operation of a reactor is an important task from the point of risk informed decision making to implement the appropriate protective measures during a radiation emergency. Probabilistic method of risk analysis may not be appropriate due to lack of data or difficulty to specify the appropriate probability distribution because the available information is incomplete or imprecise. In Imprecise probability, input parameters of representative risk model are addressed by fuzzy set theory. Fuzzy vertex method has been used to evaluate risk due to ingestion of food items, grown around the nuclear power plant. The various food items considered are wheat, rice, maize, pulses, vegetables, fruit, milk, mutton, and fish. The radionuclides considered for the present study are Cs-137, Sr-90. Paper presents the detail of the fuzzy vertex method of uncertainty estimation in risk analysis due to ingestion pathway. Ranking of risk (fuzzy numbers) from each specific food is carried out to provide a guideline for ranking the contamination of food items.