Specific activity and derived intervention levels for Cesium-137 in Costa Rican export goods: Tuna fish, coffee and powdered milk

Cesium-137 is a fission product of ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu. After a major nuclear accident, it is released into the atmosphere and in the far field region it will produce radioactively contaminated food and drinking water. This paper will study the specific activity of ¹³⁷Cs in three Costa Rican export products: tuna fish, coffee and powdered milk. The average specific activities found are as follows: 0.89±0.41, 1.16±0.76 and 4.53±2.00 Bq kg⁻¹. They represent low values compared to their derived intervention levels: 1.25 × 10⁷, 1.25 × 10⁷ and 2.44 × 10⁵ Bq kg⁻¹, respectively.