MODELING THE POTENTIAL RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF RADIOACTIVE-WASTEDUMPING IN THE KARA SEA

There has recently been growing concern over the dumping of high- and medium-level solid radioactive wastes in the Kara Sea by the former So viet Union. The largest amounts of radioactive wastes were dumped prim arily as nuclear reactors containing spent nuclear fuel. The present r adionuclide inventory in dumped nuclear reactors is estimated at 47 PB q. Compartmental and hydrodynamic models have been developed and appli ed to describe the possible dispersal of radioactive contaminants and to predict the long-term radiological impact on global, regional and l ocal scales. The collective committed effective dose to the world popu lation based on the marine food ingestion pathway has been calculated as 22 man Sv. Modelling results suggest that only radiological effects on a local scale may be of importance. The global radiological impact of the disposals in the Kara Sea will be smaller than from other anth ropogenic sources of radioactivity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.