Radionuclides in the Kongsfjorden area, Svalbard

Recent Levels of Technetium-99 in Seawater at the West Coast of Svalbard

“…However, levels measured at Hillesøy on the coast of northern Norway, also in 2000 [5], are again five times higher than in Kongsfjorden at the same time. 99 Tc data obtained from seaweed samples from Kongsfjorden in May 2000 (Fucus distichus) with a level of 34.3 Bq/kg [4] confirm the enhanced 99 Tc levels as measured in the seawater, when assuming similar concentration factors as those found for similar Fucus species.…”

“…Seawater samples of 50 l were obtained in Kongsfjorden in May 2000 during NRPA's Svalbard-2000 (station codes beginning with SV00) field campaign [4], in spring 2001 (station codes beginning with SV01), and on a cruise to the Fram Strait (station codes beginning with PS) with the RV Polarstern [12]. At each of the two stations off Kongsfjorden (PS173 and PS264), three samples were taken (respectively, surface, subsurface, and deepwater).…”

“…Dahlgaard [6] provides a portioning of sources of 99 Tc in seawater in the East Greenland Current over the period 1988-1990 of about 85% from European coastal discharges and 15% from nuclear weapon tests. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) commenced an investigation into long-range transported radionuclides off the western coast of Spitsbergen in the spring of 2000 [4], with a sampling program in Kongsfjorden, an Arctic fjord [7,8]. Further samples were collected on a cruise with the ice-breaking research vessel Polarstern in the summer of 2000 and again in Kongsfjorden in May 2001.…”

“…99 Tc is a soft β-radiation emitter, and its presence along the Norwegian Coast and further north after enhanced discharges in the mid-1990s is documented in a number of publications [2,3,4]. The global background of 99 Tc in the environment originates from earlier releases from nuclear installations, from fallout in connection with atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, and from the use of 99m Tc in diagnostic nuclear medicine [5].…”

The dispersion of 99Tc in the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean: a comparison of model results and observations

“…Concentration levels of radioactive material in seawater in the Arctic have been measured in a number of studies both for research and monitoring purposes (e.g. Dahlgaard, 1995;Gerland et al, 2002b;Kershaw and Baxter, 1995;Nies et al, 1998;Strand et al, 1994). Presently, the NRPA conducts monthly seawater sampling at the subarctic and Arctic locations Hillesøy (Northern Norway), Jan Mayen, Bjørnøya, Hopen and Ny-Glesund (Spitsbergen) for 99 Tc level monitoring.…”