Management Options for Animal Production Systems: Which Ones to Choose in the Event of a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency?

Abstract

If radionuclides are released into a rural area as a result of a nuclear or radiological emergency (NRE), statutory food restrictions will be issued for places where activity concentrations of one or more radionuclides exceed operational intervention levels (OILs) in foodstuffs. The areas subject to food restrictions may be large, and for some long-lived radionuclides, there is potential for a wide range of food production systems to be disrupted for many years, unless some form of intervention is undertaken. A large number of management options for use in contaminated intensive livestock production, backyard farms and free-ranging livestock have been developed, for application pre-deposition, through to the late phase. As each NRE will be different in terms of its radiological composition and impact on the food chain, it is not possible to establish a generic strategy. Consequently, handbooks for food production systems have been developed to guide decision-makers in the selection and combining of management options, to ensure radionuclides remain below OILs. The handbooks include a stepwise process to progressively evaluate options and eliminate those deemed unsuitable, ultimately providing a short list of options on which to base the recovery strategy.