Criteria for population protection and rehabilitation of the Russian territories long after the Chernobyl accident

The paper outlines the history of development of criteria of radiation and social protection of the population of Russia living in the areas contaminated after the Chernobyl accident long after the accident. The trend for lowering the standards with time has been revealed and causes of this trend are analyzed. It is shown that the optimization principle has not been applied in an explicit form for protection of the population. The current and predicted radiation situation in the contaminated areas of Russia is described and the main pathways of internal and external exposure are identified. Possibilities available today to reduce population dose are discussed. Proposed are criteria and methods for population protection and rehabilitation of Russian territories.