There are three main methods available to obtain retrospective assessments of radiation dose:

a) computational modeling (CM), which use archive monitoring data of radioactive contamination of soils, biota and human body are applied to develop radioecological models for estimation of mean doses. Individualization of mean calculated doses is performed using results of individual questioning of the inhabitants of the contaminated territories. The evaluation of the uncertainty of doses is provided by Monte Carlo method with a variation of parameters of the models;

b) the retrospective luminescence dosimetry (RLD) and c) ESR dosimetry, determine the cumulative absorbed dose in the bricks of buildings and in human tooth enamel, respectively. RLD and ESR dosimetry methods allow the estimation of accumulated dose with accuracy of 20-30 mGy

Estimates of dose obtained by applying CM, RLD and ESR methods downwind the Chernobyl NPP and to Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS) are overviewed in the paper. The comparisons of dose estimates by different methods are presented.