Jm. Warden et al., POTENTIAL RADIONUCLIDE RELEASE RATES FROM MARINE REACTORS DUMPED IN THE KARA SEA, Science of the total environment, 202(1-3), 1997, pp. 225-236
The largest inventory of radioactive materials dumped in the Kara Sea
by the former Soviet Union comes from the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of
seven marine reactors, the 1994 inventory of which made a total of app
roximately 4.7 PBq. In progressing its work for the International Arct
ic Seas Assessment Project (IASAP), under the auspices of the Internat
ional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the IASAP Source Term Working Group
has developed a number of simple computer models to predict the poten
tial release patterns of radionuclides into the Kara Sea from the SNF
and activated components dumped within the marine reactors. These mode
ls are based on the present and future conditions of the barrier mater
ials and their configuration within the dumped objects. They account f
or progressive corrosion of the outer and inner steel barriers, breakd
own of the organic fillers, and degradation and leaching from the SNFs
. Annual release rates are predicted to beyond 5000 years into the fut
ure. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.