Current trends in the assessment of radiation environmental risk. Review

This article presents analysis of modern methods to estimate radiation associated risk for biota. The current system of radiation protection of non-human species which includes the assessment of radiation environmental risks develops within the scope of the ecocentric approach, based on the concept of "reference animals and plants". Current approaches to estimating radioecological risks are scienсe-based multi-stage process. In the early assessment stages deterministic models are mostly used to compare estimated risk values and estimated dose limits. Due to the absence of uniform approach to estimating radiation impact on biota safety following radiation exposure, the estimates are very conservative. The outputs of international research projects are quantitatified safe exposure limits for biota varying between 4 and 40 μGy/hour. Estimating radiation environmental risk on the basis of critical loads can be an alternative approach, that allows minimization of the rigidity. A critical load is the threshold value of a model describing the radiation-induced effect on biota subjects at individual, species, population, or ecosystem level as a whole.