This paper presents a detailed survey of the radiological environment of the Svalbard area carried out from 2000 to 2002, in both the marine and terrestrial environment. In the marine environment in 2001, 99 Tc activity concentrations in seawater were 0.13 to 0.36 Bq/m 3 , 5 fold higher than those in 1994, refl ecting the increase in 99 Tc discharges from Sellafi eld in the mid 1990s. Cs-137 activity concentrations in seawater were 2.23 to 2.43 Bq/m 3 , ca. 10 fold lower than those in the 1980s, refl ecting the reduction in discharge of this radionuclide. Pu-238, 239+240 Pu and 241 Am activity concentrations in seawater were < 0.3 to 0.7 mBq/m 3 , 5.6 to 8.9 mBq/m 3 and 0.6 to 2.4 mBq/m 3 respectively, with activity ratios suggesting global fallout to be the dominant source. Tc-99 activity concentrations in brown algae were up to 18 fold higher than those in the 1980s with highest concentrations in Fucus distichus (25.7 to 58.7 Bq/kg d.w.). In the terrestrial environment, typical 137 Cs activity concentrations in soil were between < 0.5 and 63 Bq/kg d.w. whilst activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides 238 U (17 to 72 Bq/kg d.w.), 226 Ra (21 to 70 Bq/kg d.w.), 232 Th (10 to 57 Bq/kg d.w.) and 40 K (115 to 818 Bq/kg d.w.) were similar to global averages. In terrestrial vegetation, 137 Cs activity concentrations varied from 29 to 292 Bq/kg d.w. in mosses, 30 to 140 Bq/kg d.w. in lichen and 19 to 109 Bq/kg d.w. in fl owering plants. Elevated activity concentrations of 137 Cs, 238 U, 226 Ra, Pu isotopes and 241 Am were found in some matrices associated with seabird colonies.

This paper presents a detailed survey of the radiological environment of the Svalbard area carried out from 2000 to 2002, in both the marine and terrestrial environment. In the marine environment in 2001, 99Tc activity concentrations in seawater were 0.13 to 0.36 Bq/m3, 5 fold higher than those in 1994, reflecting the increase in 99Tc discharges from Sellafield in the mid 1990s. Cs‐137 activity concentrations in seawater were 2.23 to 2.43 Bq/m3, ca. 10 fold lower than those in the 1980s, reflecting the reduction in discharge of this radionuclide. Pu‐238, 239+240Pu and 241Am activity concentrations in seawater were < 0.3 to 0.7 mBq/m3, 5.6 to 8.9 mBq/m3 and 0.6 to 2.4 mBq/m3 respectively, with activity ratios suggesting global fallout to be the dominant source. Tc‐99 activity concentrations in brown algae were up to 18 fold higher than those in the 1980s with highest concentrations in Fucus distichus (25.7 to 58.7 Bq/kg d.w.). In the terrestrial environment, typical 137Cs activity concentrations in soil were between < 0.5 and 63 Bq/kg d.w. whilst activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides 238U (17 to 72 Bq/kg d.w.), 226Ra (21 to 70 Bq/kg d.w.), 232Th (10 to 57 Bq/kg d.w.) and 40K (115 to 818 Bq/kg d.w.) were similar to global averages. In terrestrial vegetation, 137Cs activity concentrations varied from 29 to 292 Bq/kg d.w. in mosses, 30 to 140 Bq/kg d.w. in lichen and 19 to 109 Bq/kg d.w. in flowering plants. Elevated activity concentrations of 137Cs, 238U, 226Ra, Pu isotopes and 241Am were found in some matrices associated with seabird colonies.

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The necessity to provide information about radionuclide concentrations in Arctic marine species has been heightened in recent years due to a number of accidents in Arctic regions involving nuclear vessels and the presence of a large number of potential radioactive contamination sources. The provision for such information is largely dependant on the use of radionuclide uptake and transfer models. The uptake of radionuclides in Arctic seal species in this study has been modelled using a probabilistic biokinetic approach. In this paper, model results are compared with empirical data from relevant samples taken within the Arctic region. Results indicate that the model performs well when estimating concentrations of 137 Cs in two seal species for both median values and reproduction of the distribution of data values, but not as well for a third seal species. Likely factors affecting the results are the probability density functions used for the input parameters.