Radioecological investigations on the Northern Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

Miroshnikov, А. Yu.; Лаверов, Н. П.; Чернов, Р. А.; Kudikov, A. V.; Ysacheva, A. A.; Semenkov, Ivan; Алиев, Р. А.; Asadulin, En. E.; Gavrilo, Maria

doi:10.1134/s000143701701009x

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The considered model can be a tool for estimating contamination and corresponding dose estimates in the event of potential accidents related to sunken submarines and dumped radioactive material. An important model application is predicting contamination due to climate warming when radionuclides buried in glaciers leak into the sea as a result of glacial melting (Miroshnikov et al, 2017;Zaborska, 2017;Matishov et al, 2018). In addition, significant changes in the circulation and corresponding transport of radionuclides in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans should be expected (Johannessen et al, 2010) due to climate warming.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note that the values obtained in this extrapolation are very low in comparison with historical values in previous decades; therefore, they did not affect the concentration of radionuclides in the marine environment. In the Arctic, regional fallout occurred as a result of atmospheric tests on Novaya Zemlya (Miroshnikov et al, 2017). However, there are no data on the deposition distribution.…”

Section: Global Deposition Of 137 Cs Due To Nuclear Weapon Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transport and Fate of 137Cs Released From Multiple Sources in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

Maderich

Kim

Jung³

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, along with the North Pacific, are the main reservoirs of anthropogenic radionuclides introduced in the past 75 years. The POSEIDON-R compartment model was applied to the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans to reconstruct 137Cs contamination in 1945–2020 due to multiple sources: global fallout, exchange flows with other oceans, point-source inputs in the ocean from reprocessing plants and other nuclear facilities, the impact of the Chernobyl accident and secondary contamination resulting from river runoff and redissolution from bottom sediments. The model simulated the marine environment as a system of 3D compartments comprising the water column, bottom sediment, and biota. The dynamic model described the transfer of 137Cs through the pelagic and benthic food chains. The simulation results were validated using the marine database MARIS. The calculated concentrations of 137Cs in the seaweed and non-piscivorous and piscivorous pelagic fish mostly followed the concentration of 137Cs in water. The concentration in coastal predator fish lagged behind the concentration in water as a result of a diet that includes both pelagic and benthic organisms. The impact of each considered source on the total concentration of 137Cs in non-piscivorous fish in the regions of interest was analyzed. Whereas the contribution from global fallout dominated in 1960–1970, in 1970–1990, the contribution of 137Cs released from reprocessing plants exceeded the contributions from other sources in almost all considered regions. Secondary contamination due to river runoff was less than 4% of ocean influx. The maximum total inventory of 137Cs in the Arctic Ocean (31,122 TBq) was reached in 1988, whereas the corresponding inventory in the bottom sediment was approximately 6% of the total. The general agreement between simulated and observed 137Cs concentrations in water and bottom sediment was confirmed by the estimates of geometric mean and geometric standard deviation, which varied from 0.89 to 1.29 and from 1.22 to 1.87, respectively. The approach used is useful to synthesize measurement and simulation data in areas with observational gaps. For this purpose, 13 representative regions in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans were selected for monitoring by using the “etalon” method for classification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Deposition Of 137 Cs Due To Nuclear Weapon Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport and Fate of 137Cs Released From Multiple Sources in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

Maderich

Kim

Jung³

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…In the arctic and subarctic areas of Russia, radioactive pollution is a significant factor among the many environmental problems [11,12]. For example, the northwestern sector of the Russian subarctic region is characterized by a significant number of radiation-hazardous sites, both active and with the status of "nuclear heritage sites" [13,14], the most important of which are radioactive fallout from nuclear tests, including on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, pollution from Western European radiochemical plants in the UK and France, the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the activities of nuclear shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises, nuclear ship and submarine bases, and the activities of nuclear power plants and submarines [13,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity Concentrations of Cs-137, Sr-90, Am-241, Pu-238, and Pu-239+240 and an Assessment of Pollution Sources Based on Isotopic Ratio Calculations and the HYSPLIT Model in Tundra Landscapes (Subarctic Zone of Russia)

Puchkov,

Yakovlev

2023

Applied Sciences

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The paper is devoted to the assessment of the content of anthropogenic radionuclides in tundra landscapes of the subarctic zone of Russia. The authors of the article studied the features of accumulation and migration of anthropogenic radionuclides and identified probable sources of their entry into environmental objects. Peat samples were collected on the territory of the Kaninskaya Tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Northwest Russia). A total of 46 samples were taken. The following parameters were determined in each peat sample: (1) activity and pollution density of anthropogenic radionuclides; (2) isotopic ratios of anthropogenic radionuclides; (3) activity ratios of each radionuclide for layers 10–20 cm and 0–10 cm. The results of the studies showed that the pollution density of the Nes River basin with the radionuclides Cs-137 and Sr-90 is up to 4.85 × 103 Bq×m−2 and 1.88 × 103 Bq×m−2, respectively, which is 2–5 times higher than the available data for the Kanin tundra, as well as for Russia and the world as a whole. The data obtained for Am-241, Pu-238, and Pu-239+240 showed insignificant activity of these radionuclides and generally correspond to the values for other tundra areas in Russia and the world. It was found that some tundra areas (“peat lowlands”) are characterized by increased radionuclide content due to the process of accumulation and migration along the vertical profile. Calculations of isotope ratios Sr-90/Cs-137, Pu-238/Pu-239+240, Pu-239+240/Cs-137, Am-241/Pu-239+240 and air mass trajectories based on the HYSPLIT model showed that the main sources of anthropogenic radionuclide contamination are global atmospheric fallout and the Chernobyl accident.

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“…1 ) was unsuccessful. However, these glaciological studies allowed us to estimate the depths of the radiation-contaminated layer in this part of the glacier as 25–30 m in the cold firn zone and ~ 15–20 m at the boundary of the accumulation zone 26 . Taking into account that cryoconite holes are abundant in the ablation region of glaciers and are known as efficient accumulators of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides, we initiated a detailed investigation of cryoconite in Nalli Glacier (red box in Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioecological and geochemical peculiarities of cryoconite on Novaya Zemlya glaciers

Miroshnikov

Флинт

Asadulin

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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In recent years, cryoconite has received growing attention from a radioecological point of view, since several studies have shown that this material is extremely efficient in accumulating natural and anthropogenic radionuclides. The Novaya Zemlya Archipelago (Russian Arctic) hosts the second largest glacial system in the Arctic. From 1957 to 1962, numerous atmospheric nuclear explosions were conducted at Novaya Zemlya, but to date, very little is known about the radioecology of its ice cap. Analysis of radionuclides and other chemical elements in cryoconite holes on Nalli Glacier reveals the presence of two main zones at different altitudes that present different radiological features. The first zone is 130–210 m above sea level (a.s.l.), has low radioactivity, high concentrations of lithophile elements and a chalcophile content close to that of upper continental crust clarkes. The second zone (220–370 m a.s.l.) is characterized by high activity levels of radionuclides and “inversion” of geochemical behaviour with lower concentrations of lithophiles and higher chalcophiles. In the upper part of this zone (350–370 m a.s.l.), 137Cs activity reaches the record levels for Arctic cryoconite (5700–8100 Bq/kg). High levels of Sn, Sb, Bi and Ag, significantly exceeding those of upper continental crust clarkes, also appear here. We suggest that a buried layer of contaminated ice that formed during atmospheric nuclear tests serves as a local secondary source of radionuclide contamination. Its melting is responsible for the formation of this zone.

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Radioecological investigations on the Northern Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Transport and Fate of 137Cs Released From Multiple Sources in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

Transport and Fate of 137Cs Released From Multiple Sources in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

Activity Concentrations of Cs-137, Sr-90, Am-241, Pu-238, and Pu-239+240 and an Assessment of Pollution Sources Based on Isotopic Ratio Calculations and the HYSPLIT Model in Tundra Landscapes (Subarctic Zone of Russia)

Radioecological and geochemical peculiarities of cryoconite on Novaya Zemlya glaciers

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