Doses to Marine Biota from Radioactive Waste Dumping in the Fjords of Novaya Zemlya

• Published in: Radiation Protection Dosimetry
• Main Authors: Sazykina, T.G., Kryshev, I.I., Kryshev, A.I.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1998
• Subjects: Article; Novaya Zemlya
• Online Access: http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/75/1-4/253; https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a032239

The current and future radioecological situation has been analysed for the fjords of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago (Abrosimov and Tsivolki Fjords) where the largest radioactive waste (RW) dumping sites are located. The current radiation dose rates to the local marine biota were calculated using the results of the expeditions of 1992-1994, and were found to be very small, (0.5-10) x 10-9 Sv.d-1, with maximum external dose rates up to 8.5 x 10-6 Sv.d-1 within small contaminated spots on the seabed. The future radioecological situation in the Tsivolki Fjord was simulated, using the scenario of an accidental disruption of the RW disposal site in 2050 AD. Dose rates to marine biota in the period of highest releases vary in the range 0.007-0.4 mSv.h-1, with a dominating contribution from alpha-emitting radionuclides.