Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks

Abstract

PREFACEn 1993, radioactive waste-management practices of the former Soviet Union (FSU) came un-I, der increasing international scrutiny after Russian scientists disclosed dumped-nuclear-waste ites in the Kara and Barents seas that contravened the London Convention ban on radioactive waste disposal at sea. The U.S. response was to fund the Office of Naval Research Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Program (ANWAP) to (1) quantify the types, amounts, and rates of release of radionuclides from marine disposal sites and Russian riverine sources leading to Arctic waters; (2) evaluate the transport pathways and ultimate fate of the radionuclide contaminants; and (3) identify any long-term monitoring strategies as needed. ANWAP began funding basic physical, geochemical, and biological oceanographic research in the Arctic in 1993.By early 1995 the second year of ANWAP research was well under way and planning for the final ANWAP funding cycle emphasized the need to better coordinate and integrate the activities and results of the 85 research projects into a risk-assessment framework. The goal: to use data sets in a rigorous evaluation process to make dose estimates for potential human and ecological impacts, particularly in Alaska, from the nuclear wastes the FSU had dumped in the Arctic. A Risk Assessment Integration Group (RAIG) was formed to conduct the assessment. The RAIG recognized at the outset of this risk-assessment phase that the risk analysis would have to depend on available ANWAP data and other published data sets, and that ongoing research would continue to generate new data even after the data cutoff point for timely preparation of the risk assessment. The RAIG has established an evaluation framework that, through an ongoing iterative process, can be enhanced as new information becomes available.The risk assessment follows a traditional, internationally accepted radiological risk-assessment process. It uses models to make predictions, but also incorporates actual field measurements and laboratory data obtained from ANWAP scientists and the broader national and international scientific community. The risk-assessment team involved key scientists from Alaska (Douglas Dasher, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Todd O'Hara, North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (David Layton, Mark Mount, Florence Harrison, and John Knezovich); Sandia National Laboratories (Rip Anderson, Mel Marietta, Leo Gomez, and Palmer Vaughn); Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories (William Templeton and Bruce Napier); and the Office of Naval Research (Marilyn Varela). This integrating team (the RAIG) identified discrete areas of focus and authorship for various components of the risk assessment; in the preparation of this report, the team relied upon the input of key ANWAP Principal Investigators, some of whose information was timely enough for use, and some not. Each section of the report identifies the authors. Although inputs from Russian contributors were instrumental in...

Metals and radionuclides in birds and eggs from Amchitka and Kiska Islands in the Bering Sea/Pacific Ocean ecosystem

“…There is also the possible migration of radionuclides and metals through oceanic and/or sediment transport; the currents generally move from west to east in the Northern Pacific/Bering Sea ecosystem. Radionuclide sources in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) include deliberate dumping of nuclear waste and submarine cores and accidents (Mount et al, 1998;Layton et al, 1999). These sources could potentially pose a risk to coastal Alaska and the Western Aleutian Islands by a complex set of marine transport mechanisms.…”

Radionuclide Contaminant Burdens in Arctic Marine Mammals Harvested During Subsistence Hunting

“…Much of this recent work was initiated after 1992, when it became widely known that significant quantities of radioactive waste of former Soviet Union (FSU) origin had been dumped in the Arctic Ocean, the north Pacific, and in the East Asian marginal seas during the Cold War (Yablokov et al, 1993;Layton et al, 1997;AMAP, 1998). Potential radionuclide contributions to the Arctic Ocean from Russian nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear reprocessing sources on the Ob and Yenisey Rivers have also been studied recently (e.g., Aarkrog, 1994;Vakulovsky et al, 1995;Baskaran et al, , 1996Beasley et al, 1997;Cooper et al,1999).…”

“…In the United States, Congress appropriated US$30 million during 1993 -95 for studies under the U.S. Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Program (ANWAP). One goal was to assess the possible health risks from radionuclide contaminants to subsistence users of marine food resources in Alaska (Layton et al, 1997). Despite this goal, relatively few data on radionuclide burdens in marine foods currently harvested by indigenous Arctic people have been available, and this shortcoming was acknowledged in the official U.S. government risk assessment (Layton et al, 1997).…”

“…One goal was to assess the possible health risks from radionuclide contaminants to subsistence users of marine food resources in Alaska (Layton et al, 1997). Despite this goal, relatively few data on radionuclide burdens in marine foods currently harvested by indigenous Arctic people have been available, and this shortcoming was acknowledged in the official U.S. government risk assessment (Layton et al, 1997). At the time that this risk assessment study was prepared, inferential and indirect data, including data on water and ice transport mechanisms, modeling, and water column distributions of radionuclides, were more readily available than data on distributions of radionuclides within biota.…”

Conceptual Site Models as a Tool in Evaluating Ecological Health: The Case of the Department of Energy'S Amchitka Island Nuclear Test Site

“…FSU marine radionuclide migration pathways that can potentially contaminate the western Aleutians also emanate from liquid waste and solid reactor parts disposed of in the Sea of Japan and the Northwest Pacific Ocean, and from disposal of liquid radionuclide waste, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. A strontium-90-powered thermoelectric generator was lost at sea by the FSU in the Sea of Okhotsk (Layton et al, 1999).…”