Magnitude of fission product depositions from atmospheric nuclear weapon test fallout in France.

The external dose attributable to fallout from worldwide atmospheric nuclear testing, which represents about 40% of the total effective dose received before 2000, is dominated by specific fission products such as 95Zr, 104Ba, 106Ru, 103Ru, and 144Ce, which are far less well-documented than 90Sr and 137Cs. The depositions of these nuclides over France were calculated on the basis of activity measurements in air and rainwater samples collected from 1961 to 1977. These depositions were then compared to the same radionuclides activities measured in grass during that period. This study shows that the transfer and deposition processes occur in a very similar manner for all the studied radionuclides. Depositions calculated in this study, consistent in most cases with UNSCEAR estimates, constitute a good basis for the external dose assessment of nuclear weapon test fallout over Western Europe.