Criteria for The Management of Radioactive Tea A Unique Experience of Radioactive Pollution

After the Chernobyl accident, the tea plantations at the north-east region of Turkey, especially in Rize and the neighborhood have been affected by radioactive fall-out. As a
measure of radiological protection, the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority intervened before the stage of packing of the tea, and imposed a maximal limit of 12.500 Bq/kg for the tea on the market. 58.078 tons of contaminated tea of 25.000 Bq/kg and more has been isolated for disposal. In order to determine the optimal mode of disposal the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority developed four criteria for the management of radioactive tea which permitted to establish that the only mode of disposal satisfying all these criteria was the burial of the contaminated material.