A REVIEW OF 137CS TRANSFER FACTOR STUDIES FOR INDIAN ENVIRONS

Abstract

In recent years there have been conscious efforts put by researchers in India to generate the soil-to-plant 137Cs transfer factor values. This review study is aimed at providing a comprehensive background of 137Cs transfer rates around the environs of a few nuclear power plant sites of India. As a part of this, the study looked into 137Cs transfer rates from soil to various plant species. The effort was made to quantify the transfer rates of 137Cs and various parameters affecting the movement of 137Cs in the terrestrial environment. The past and current knowledge on 137Cs transfer factors available in the literature were reviewed thoroughly and highlighted the need for incorporating lesser known and overlooked aspects of radionuclide behaviour for future studies. The paper also tried to identify and highlight the gaps and inconsistencies in the reported values of 137Cs transfer factors.