Influence of the Chernobyl fallout on 137Cs wine activities on the Rhône valley

Some parts of the Rhône valley have been quite strongly affected by the Chernobyl fallout, with 137Cs deposits sometimes higher than 20 000 Bq m-2. In those regions, most of agricultural surfaces are devoted to vineyards for famous vintages. This study shows that the consequences of the Chernobyl fallout in wine were visible but very weak. 137Cs wine activities did not reached 1 Bq l-1. Such limited consequences are linked to the date of the deposit, the first week of May 1986, at the beginning of vineyard plant foliar development. Since 1986, this activity has strongly decreased to be in 2000 close to those existing before the accident: some millibecquerel per litre. 137Cs activities in soil, mainly contained within the 20 first centimetres, are weakly available for vineyard roots. © 2003 EDP Sciences.