Kara Sea radioactivity assessment

Investigations following five international expeditions to the Kara Sea have shown that no radiologically significant contamination has occurred outside of the dumping sites in Novaya Zemlya bays. Increased levels of radionuclides in sediment have only been observed in Abrosimov and Stepovoy Bays very close to dumped containers. Evaluations of radionuclide inventories in water and sediment of the open Kara Sea and Novaya Zemlya bays as well as soil from the shore of Abrosimov bay have shown that radionuclide contamination of the open Kara Sea is mainly due to global fallout, with Smaller contributions from the Sellafield reprocessing plant, the Chernobyl accident run-off from the Ob and Yenisey rivers and local fallout. Computer modelling results have shown that maximum annual doses of approximately 1 mSv are expected for a hypothetical critical group subsisting on fish caught in the Novaya Zemlya bays whereas populations living on the mainland can be expected to receive doses at least three orders of magnitude lower. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.