Significance of contaminated food in collective dose after a severe reactor accident.

The importance of the ingestion dose pathways in collective effective dose due to severe reactor accidents is evaluated by studying two different radioactive accidental releases. A short description of the ingestion dose pathway model is also given. Typically, exposure via contaminated food without countermeasures causes considerably more than half of the collective effective dose in the long term, and milk consumption is the most important pathway. Also the season when the release occurs has a major effect on the doses and on the areas where food products should be interdicted.