International Arctic Seas Assessment Project

The International Atomic Energy Agency responded to the news that the forme r Soviet Union had dumped radioactive wastes in the shallow waters of the A rctic Seas, by launching the International Arctic Seas Assessment Project i n 1993. The project had two objectives: to assess the risks to human health and to the environment associated with the radioactive wastes dumped in th e Kara and Parents Seas; and to examine possible remedial actions related t o the dumped wastes and to advise on whether they are necessary and justifi ed. The current radiological situation in the Arctic waters was examined to assess whether there is any evidence for releases from the dumped waste. P otential future releases from the dumped wastes were predicted, concentrati ng on the high-level waste objects containing the major part of the radionu clide inventory of the wastes. Environmental transport of released radionuc lides was modelled and the associated radiological impact on humans and the biota was assessed. The feasibility, costs and benefits of possible remedi al measures applied to a selected high-level waste object were examined. Re leases from identified dumped objects were found to be small and localised to the immediate vicinity of the dumping sites. Projected future annual dos es to members of the public in typical local population groups were very sm all, less than 1 mSv - corresponding to a trivial risk. Projected future do ses to a hypothetical group of military personnel patrolling the foreshore of the fjords in which wastes have been dumped were higher, up to 4 mSv/yea r, which still is of the same order as the average annual natural backgroun d dose. Moreover, since any of the proposed remedial actions were estimated to cost several million US$ to implement, remediation was not considered j ustified on the basis of potentially removing a collective dose of 10 man S v. Doses calculated to marine fauna were insignificant, orders of magnitude below these at which detrimental effects on fauna populations might be exp ected to occur. Remediation was thus concluded not to be warranted on radio logical grounds. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.