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The Food Standards Agency needs to be able to predict what the concentrations of radioactivity in food might be following the deposition of radioactive material onto the ground for both accidental and routine discharges of radioactivity to the atmosphere.
This study looks at how fruit grown in the UK can become contaminated by actinide elements (e.g. uranium and plutonium), with the aim of developing a mathematical model for predicting concentrations of radioactivity in fruit after a radioactive release into the atmosphere. <p>Information on the contamination of fruit is relatively sparse in the scientific literature and, although some mathematical models already exist for predicting radioactivity levels in crops, these are not necessarily appropriate for actinide element transfer into fruit. A review of the available scientific literature and existing models has been undertaken and a mathematical model developed based on the findings of this review.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.