SUMMARY OF IAEA-MELS INVESTIGATION OF KARA SEA RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

IAEA-MEL participated in five expeditions to the Kara Sea with the aim of assessing the radiological consequences of dumped radioactive wast es in the Novaya Zemlya Bays and Trough. The programme included sampli ng, in-situ underwater investigations, laboratory analyses of water, s ediment and biota samples, the development of a marine radioactivity d atabase, modelling and radiological assessment, the organization of in tercomparison exercises and the evaluation of distribution coefficient s. Radiometric investigations have shown that no radiologically signif icant environmental contamination has occurred. Leakages which have le d to locally increased levels of radionuclides in sediment have only b een observed in Stepovoy and Abrosimov Bays. Computer modelling result s suggest that only radiological effects on local and regional scales may be of importance, The global radiological impact of the disposals in the Arctic Seas will be negligible. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.