1. Transfers to plant products

Figure 1 shows the main processes leading to contamination of plant products during and after radioactive deposition. Two main transfer pathways are distinguished in this figure 1 : foliar transfer, during deposition, of radionuclides present in the air to plant leaves on the one hand, and root transfer of radionuclides deposited and then incorporated into soils on the other. Other phenomena are sometimes considered, such as leaf transfer resulting from the resuspension of contaminated soil particles in the air, or the splashing of leaves by soil particles during rainfall; these are not detailed in this article, but their effect is sometimes taken into account in...