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Monitoring the environmental contamination of Kara Sea and shallow bays of Novaya Zemlya

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Abstract

The distribution of 137Cs and 239,240Pu in various ecosystems of the Kara Sea as well as speciation of these radionuclides has been studied to assess their potential mobility. In bottom sediment and seawater samples collected in Abrosimov, Tsivolky, Stepovoy, and Sedov Bays and on the coast of Novaya Zemlya, the content of anthropogenic radionuclides 137Cs and 239,240Pu does not exceed the values typical of the offshore zone in the Kara Sea (in sea water: 1.0–3.7 Bq/m3 for 137Cs and 50–90 mBq/m3 for 239,240Pu; in bottom sediments: 0.5–18.3 Bq/kg for 137Cs and 4.3–7.3 Bq/kg for 239,240Pu). The present monitoring study is important for the development of a long-term forecast for the dynamics of environmental contamination in the shallow bays of Novaya Zemlya.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science [Federal Targeted Program for Research and Development in Priority Areas of Development of the Russian Scientific and Technological Complex for 2014–2020 (Agreement No. 14.604.21.0095 UIS RFMEFI60414X0095)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Kosygina 19, Moscow, Russian Federation, 119991

    Anna V. Travkina, Tatyana A. Goryachenkova, Alexander P. Borisov, Galina Y. Solovieva, Alexander N. Ligaev & Alexander P. Novikov

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  1. Anna V. Travkina
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  2. Tatyana A. Goryachenkova
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  3. Alexander P. Borisov
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  4. Galina Y. Solovieva
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  5. Alexander N. Ligaev
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  6. Alexander P. Novikov
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Correspondence to Alexander P. Novikov.

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Travkina, A.V., Goryachenkova, T.A., Borisov, A.P. et al. Monitoring the environmental contamination of Kara Sea and shallow bays of Novaya Zemlya. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 311, 1673–1680 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-5163-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-5163-0

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