Status of Ecosystems in Radioactive Waste Reservoirs of the Mayak Production Association in 2009

Abstract

Liquid radioactive waste from the Mayak Production Association (Chelyabinsk Region, Russia) is contained in industrial reservoirs (R-11, R-10, R-4, R-17, and R-9) that have different levels of radioactive contamination, increased from R-11 to R-17. A study of the ecosystems in these reservoirs was performed in 2009 to determine if there was any association with the level of contamination. No significant change in the status of biota was found in the reservoir with the lowest radionuclide concentrations (R-11) in comparison to other reservoirs in the region with a similar geography that are unaffected by radioactive contamination. In reservoir R-10, changes in the zoobenthos indices were registered. In reservoir R-4, changes in the zoobenthos and zooplankton communities were registered. In reservoir R-17, there was no ichthyofauna, but strong changes in the phytoplankton, zooplankton, and zoobenthos communities were registered. In reservoir R-9, under the conditions of the heaviest radioactive contamination of water ecosystems in the biosphere, there was no ichthyofauna, and phytoplankton and zooplankton consisted of almost a monoculture of cyanobacteriae and rotifers.

Internal in vitro dosimetry for fish using hydroxyapatite-based EPR detectors

“…The total specific activity of water is about 10 kBq/l (Pryakhin et al 2012). The main sources of internal exposure of fish in these lakes (Utkin et al 2004;Pryakhin et al 2012) are 90 Sr/ 90 Y (beta emitters) and 137 Cs/ 137m Ba (beta and gamma emitters).…”

“…The total specific activity of water is about 10 kBq/l (Pryakhin et al 2012). The main sources of internal exposure of fish in these lakes (Utkin et al 2004;Pryakhin et al 2012) are 90 Sr/ 90 Y (beta emitters) and 137 Cs/ 137m Ba (beta and gamma emitters). The fish mass was equal to 876 g and the body-average total specific activity ( 90 Sr/ 90 Y plus 137 Cs/ 137m Ba) was determined as 1 kBq per g fresh mass [measurements were performed at the radiochemical facility of the Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine (URCRM)].…”

“…For instance, a number of reservoirs (both natural and specially created for settling and storing radioactivity) were contaminated in the Southern Urals (Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia) as a result of the activities of the Mayak Production Association (PA) (the first Russian plutonium facility) in the 1950s (Utkin et al 2004;Pryakhin et al 2012;Shagina et al 2012). The current concentrations of 90 Sr and 137 Cs in the water bodies there vary in the range from the levels of global weapons fallout (\0.01 and \0.06 Bq/l, respectively) to 62.9 and 440 MBq/l, respectively.…”

“…Peculiar features of these contaminated aquatic ecosystems, such as relative isolation, differences in radioactive contamination and radiation exposure for a long time (over 50 years), have created a unique opportunity for studies of biota chronically exposed to different dose rates of ionizing radiation. Currently, investigations of fishes caught in those contaminated lakes are being actively carried on (Pryakhin et al 2012). In general, great interest in dosimetry studies of aquatic biota exists.…”