SURVEY OF ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN THE BARENTS SEA AND THE KARA SEA

The concentrations of radionuclides have been measured in water, sedim ents and biota from the Barents and Kara Seas. The survey was undertak en to identify the contribution to the anthropogenic radionuclides in the environment from nuclear waste dumped by the USSR in these areas f rom 1962 to the present day. The concentration in seawater was in the range 3.3-20.4 Bg m(-3) for Cs-137, 3.0-12.1 Bg m(-3) for Sr-90 and <1 .8-16.0 mBq m(-3) for Pu-239,Pu-240. The concentrations in sediments ( 0-10 cm) were in the range 120-910 Bq m(-2) for Cs-137 and 2.5-135 Bq m(-2) for Pu-239.240. The influence of radioactivity from dumped nucle ar waste has not had a significant impact on the general levels of ant hropogenic radioactivity.