Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks
The primary goal of the assessment reported here is to evaluate the health and environmental threat to coastal Alaska posed by radioactive-waste dumping in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans by the FSU. In particular, the FSU discarded 16 nuclear reactors from submarines and an icebreaker in th...
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Format: | Report |
Language: | English |
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
1999
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2172/757029 http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc711579/ |
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ftunivnotexas:info:ark/67531/metadc711579 |
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record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of North Texas: UNT Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnotexas |
language |
English |
topic |
Pacific Ocean Coastal Waters 21 Specific Nuclear Reactors And Associated Plants Environmental Impacts Ship Propulsion Reactors 07 Isotopes And Radiation Sources 61 Radiation Protection And Dosimetry 22 General Studies Of Nuclear Reactors Contamination Strontium 90 Nuclear Ships Thermoelectric Generators Radiation Doses Arctic Regions |
spellingShingle |
Pacific Ocean Coastal Waters 21 Specific Nuclear Reactors And Associated Plants Environmental Impacts Ship Propulsion Reactors 07 Isotopes And Radiation Sources 61 Radiation Protection And Dosimetry 22 General Studies Of Nuclear Reactors Contamination Strontium 90 Nuclear Ships Thermoelectric Generators Radiation Doses Arctic Regions Layton, D W Edson, R Varela, M Napier, B Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
topic_facet |
Pacific Ocean Coastal Waters 21 Specific Nuclear Reactors And Associated Plants Environmental Impacts Ship Propulsion Reactors 07 Isotopes And Radiation Sources 61 Radiation Protection And Dosimetry 22 General Studies Of Nuclear Reactors Contamination Strontium 90 Nuclear Ships Thermoelectric Generators Radiation Doses Arctic Regions |
description |
The primary goal of the assessment reported here is to evaluate the health and environmental threat to coastal Alaska posed by radioactive-waste dumping in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans by the FSU. In particular, the FSU discarded 16 nuclear reactors from submarines and an icebreaker in the Kara Sea near the island of Novaya Zemlya, of which 6 contained spent nuclear fuel (SNF); disposed of liquid and solid wastes in the Sea of Japan; lost a {sup 90}Sr-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generator at sea in the Sea of Okhotsk; and disposed of liquid wastes at several sites in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. In addition to these known sources in the oceans, the RAIG evaluated FSU waste-disposal practices at inland weapons-development sites that have contaminated major rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The RAIG evaluated these sources for the potential for release to the environment, transport, and impact to Alaskan ecosystems and peoples through a variety of scenarios, including a worst-case total instantaneous and simultaneous release of the sources under investigation. The risk-assessment process described in this report is applicable to and can be used by other circumpolar countries, with the addition of information about specific ecosystems and human life-styles. They can use the ANWAP risk-assessment framework and approach used by ONR to establish potential doses for Alaska, but add their own specific data sets about human and ecological factors. The ANWAP risk assessment addresses the following Russian wastes, media, and receptors: dumped nuclear submarines and icebreaker in Kara Sea--marine pathways; solid reactor parts in Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean--marine pathways; thermoelectric generator in Sea of Okhotsk--marine pathways; current known aqueous wastes in Mayak reservoirs and Asanov Marshes--riverine to marine pathways; and Alaska as receptor. For these waste and source terms addressed, other pathways, such as atmospheric transport, could be considered under future-funded research efforts for impacts to Alaska. The ANWAP risk assessment does not address the following wastes, media, and receptors: radioactive sources in Alaska (except to add perspective for Russian source term); radioactive wastes associated with Russian naval military operations and decommissioning; Russian production reactor and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities nonaqueous source terms; atmospheric, terrestrial and nonaqueous pathways; and dose calculations for any circumpolar locality other than Alaska. These other, potentially serious sources of radioactivity to the Arctic environment, while outside the scope of the current ANWAP mandate, should be considered for future funding research efforts. |
author2 |
United States. Department of Energy. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs. |
format |
Report |
author |
Layton, D W Edson, R Varela, M Napier, B |
author_facet |
Layton, D W Edson, R Varela, M Napier, B |
author_sort |
Layton, D W |
title |
Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
title_short |
Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
title_full |
Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
title_fullStr |
Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks |
title_sort |
radionuclides in the arctic seas from the former soviet union: potential health and ecological risks |
publisher |
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2172/757029 http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc711579/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(160.000,160.000,56.000,56.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kamchatka Peninsula Kara Sea Okhotsk Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kamchatka Peninsula Kara Sea Okhotsk Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Icebreaker Kamchatka Kamchatka Peninsula Kara Sea Novaya Zemlya Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Icebreaker Kamchatka Kamchatka Peninsula Kara Sea Novaya Zemlya Alaska |
op_source |
Other Information: PBD: 15 Nov 1999 |
op_relation |
rep-no: UCRL-CR-136696 rep-no: ND0202000 grantno: W-7405-ENG-48 doi:10.2172/757029 osti: 757029 http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc711579/ ark: ark:/67531/metadc711579 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2172/757029 |
_version_ |
1766327123207782400 |
spelling |
ftunivnotexas:info:ark/67531/metadc711579 2023-05-15T14:55:19+02:00 Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks Layton, D W Edson, R Varela, M Napier, B United States. Department of Energy. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs. 1999-11-15 19 Megabytes pages Text https://doi.org/10.2172/757029 http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc711579/ English eng Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory rep-no: UCRL-CR-136696 rep-no: ND0202000 grantno: W-7405-ENG-48 doi:10.2172/757029 osti: 757029 http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc711579/ ark: ark:/67531/metadc711579 Other Information: PBD: 15 Nov 1999 Pacific Ocean Coastal Waters 21 Specific Nuclear Reactors And Associated Plants Environmental Impacts Ship Propulsion Reactors 07 Isotopes And Radiation Sources 61 Radiation Protection And Dosimetry 22 General Studies Of Nuclear Reactors Contamination Strontium 90 Nuclear Ships Thermoelectric Generators Radiation Doses Arctic Regions Report 1999 ftunivnotexas https://doi.org/10.2172/757029 2016-05-07T22:11:17Z The primary goal of the assessment reported here is to evaluate the health and environmental threat to coastal Alaska posed by radioactive-waste dumping in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans by the FSU. In particular, the FSU discarded 16 nuclear reactors from submarines and an icebreaker in the Kara Sea near the island of Novaya Zemlya, of which 6 contained spent nuclear fuel (SNF); disposed of liquid and solid wastes in the Sea of Japan; lost a {sup 90}Sr-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generator at sea in the Sea of Okhotsk; and disposed of liquid wastes at several sites in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. In addition to these known sources in the oceans, the RAIG evaluated FSU waste-disposal practices at inland weapons-development sites that have contaminated major rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The RAIG evaluated these sources for the potential for release to the environment, transport, and impact to Alaskan ecosystems and peoples through a variety of scenarios, including a worst-case total instantaneous and simultaneous release of the sources under investigation. The risk-assessment process described in this report is applicable to and can be used by other circumpolar countries, with the addition of information about specific ecosystems and human life-styles. They can use the ANWAP risk-assessment framework and approach used by ONR to establish potential doses for Alaska, but add their own specific data sets about human and ecological factors. The ANWAP risk assessment addresses the following Russian wastes, media, and receptors: dumped nuclear submarines and icebreaker in Kara Sea--marine pathways; solid reactor parts in Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean--marine pathways; thermoelectric generator in Sea of Okhotsk--marine pathways; current known aqueous wastes in Mayak reservoirs and Asanov Marshes--riverine to marine pathways; and Alaska as receptor. For these waste and source terms addressed, other pathways, such as atmospheric transport, could be considered under future-funded research efforts for impacts to Alaska. The ANWAP risk assessment does not address the following wastes, media, and receptors: radioactive sources in Alaska (except to add perspective for Russian source term); radioactive wastes associated with Russian naval military operations and decommissioning; Russian production reactor and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities nonaqueous source terms; atmospheric, terrestrial and nonaqueous pathways; and dose calculations for any circumpolar locality other than Alaska. These other, potentially serious sources of radioactivity to the Arctic environment, while outside the scope of the current ANWAP mandate, should be considered for future funding research efforts. Report Arctic Arctic Ocean Icebreaker Kamchatka Kamchatka Peninsula Kara Sea Novaya Zemlya Alaska University of North Texas: UNT Digital Library Arctic Arctic Ocean Kamchatka Peninsula ENVELOPE(160.000,160.000,56.000,56.000) Kara Sea Okhotsk Pacific |