Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2010
Predictions of the effects of agricultural countermeasures are an important part of thedecision-making process following an accidental release of radioactive material into theenvironment. A new model has been developed for this purpose and integrated into the EUdecision support systems RODOS and ARGOS. The model is based on the existing food chainmodel of RODOS and the previous model for simulating agricultural countermeasures inRODOS. The characteristics of the countermeasures and the supporting databases have beenderived from the compendia and handbooks developed within the EURANOS project. A widerange of potentially practicable countermeasures is considered on timescales from a day tomany years, and endpoints related to their imposition are calculated such that theeconomic and health impacts can be evaluated. This paper outlines the countermeasuresmethodology adopted and the databases used and discusses their applicability.