Anthropogenic radioactivity in the Arctic Ocean — review of the results from the joint German project

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the joint project carried out in Germany in order to assess the consequences in the marine environment from the dumping of nuclear wastes in the Kara and Barents Seas. The project consisted of experimental work on measurements of radionuclides in samples from the Arctic marine environment and numerical modelling of the potential pathways and dispersion of contaminants in the Arctic Ocean. Water and sediment samples were collected for determination of radionuclide such as 137 Cs, 90 Sr, 239q240 Pu, 238 Pu, and 241 Am and various organic micropollutants. In addition, a few water and numerous surface sediment samples collected in the Kara Sea and from the Kola peninsula were taken by Russian colleagues and analysed for artificial radionuclides by the BSH laboratory. The role of transport by sea ice from the Kara Sea into the Arctic Ocean was assessed by a small subgroup at GEOMAR. This transport process might be considered as a rapid contribution due to entrainment of contaminated sediments into sea ice, following export from the Kara Sea into the transpolar ice drift and subsequent release in the Atlantic Ocean in the area of the East Greenland Current. Numerical modelling of dispersion of pollutants from the Kara and Barents Seas was carried out both on a local scale for the Barents and Kara Seas and for long range dispersion into the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Three-dimensional baroclinic circulation models were applied to trace the transport of pollutants. Experimental results were used to validate the model results such as the discharges from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield and subsequent contamination of the North Sea up the Arctic Seas. ᮊ 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

“…However, no Pu contamination from the submarine has yet been reported (Nies et al, 1999 Pu in marine reactors was dumped in the Kara Sea (IAEA, 1998a) and enhanced levels of 239+240 Pu in close proximity to the objects indicates some leakage, but no evidence of any transfer from this site has been reported (Salbu et al, 1997;Nies et al, 1999).…”

“…However, the lack of studies around these dumping sites makes it difficult to predict future Pu releases, especially in the Arctic Ocean (Nies et al, 1999;Osvath et al, 1999;Preller and Cheng, 1999;Skipperud, 2004).…”

Cs-137 in Arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) on Svalbard

“…In order to compare Arctic foxeprey relationships from different years, all prey concentrations were decay corrected to the 1st of January within the appropriate trapping season. Although available 137 Cs seawater data for the Svalbard area suggest a decline in surface seawater concentrations from 3.2 Bq/m 3 to around 2 Bq/m 3 over a similar time period to the study period (Nies et al, 1999;NRPA, 2005), no attempt was made to adjust ringed seal and seabird activity concentrations due to changes in Svalbard 137 Cs seawater concentrations over the study period.…”

Biodiversity of Macrophytes and Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal Accumulation in the Aquatic Ecosystems / Biodiverzitet Makrofita I Fitoremedijacija Akumulacije Teških Metala U Vodenim Ekosistemima

“…Heavy metals are metals having a density of 5 g/cc, (Nies et al, 1999). These metals include elements such as copper, cadmium, lead, selenium, arsenic, mercury, chromium and etc.…”