Radioactive Contamination Management in Pasture and Forest Ecosystems with Nuclear Defense Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.

2 Professor, Department of Biology, Faculty and Research Institute of Basic Sciences, Imam Hossein (AS) University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate and identify methods and defensive strategies for removing contamination from radioactive materials after a nuclear accident in forest ecosystems. For this purpose, published results of experimental methods on how to remove contamination from the forest environment after various nuclear accidents that occurred around the world, especially the Chernobyl accident (1986), were studied. It was found that with the deposition of radioactive materials in the forest environment in a short period of time, within a few months, the concentration of contamination in forest food products such as mushrooms and berries increases sharply, and forest animals also become contaminated by eating them. One of the ways in which radioactive contamination is transferred from the forest ecosystem to the human food chain is through the consumption of forest food or hunting animals from contaminated forests. After one year, soil becomes the main source of radionuclide contamination in the forest. Also, by removing contaminated wood from the forest and using it, the routes of transmission of contamination to people who are not normally directly exposed to radioactive radiation in the forest increase. There are various countermeasures to eliminate or reduce radioactive contamination through the forest environment. However, only those measures that have a high feasibility and are effective in eliminating or reducing contamination should be used to eliminate or reduce contamination. It seems that the rate of transmission of radioactive contamination to humans through forest ecosystems can be minimized by implementing measures such as; limiting access to forests, preventing forest fires, chemically modifying forest soil, processing raw forest products, changing hunting times in the forest, and avoiding collecting forest food products.

Keywords

References

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Passive Defense
Volume 17, Issue 1 - Serial Number 65
Serial number 65. Spring 2026
May 2026
Pages 37-52

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History

  • Receive Date: 05 June 2025
  • Revise Date: 26 August 2025
  • Accept Date: 17 December 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 May 2026

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