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Investigation of the tritium content in surface water, bottom sediments (zoobenthos), macrophytes, and fish in the mid-stream region of the Yenisei River (Siberia, Russia)

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Abstract

The potential sources of tritium input to the Yenisei River ecosystem are derived from local operations of nuclear facilities of the Mining and Chemical Combine operated by the state-owned Rosatom corporation and from sources derived from global weapons testing fallout and nuclear power. The background tritium concentrations in zoobenthos, bottom sediments, relevant commercial fish species, and widespread endogenous aquatic plants have been obtained for the first time in this region. Our results demonstrate that the major input term of tritium to this region of the Yenisei is derived from nearby mining operations of Rosatom, with tritium concentrations in aquatic plants marginally exceeding the observed background values obtained from upstream control sample collection sites.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out under the partial financial support of a State Subsidy of the Russian Federation, N 3005. The authors express sincere gratitude to the Joint Research Center of the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MKS acknowledges the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for financial support of his research activities (US NRC-HQ-12-G-38-0041).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

    Lydia Bondareva

  2. Department of Radiology, Free Radical and Radiation Biology Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Michael K. Schultz

Authors
  1. Lydia Bondareva
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  2. Michael K. Schultz
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Correspondence to Lydia Bondareva.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Bondareva, L., Schultz, M.K. Investigation of the tritium content in surface water, bottom sediments (zoobenthos), macrophytes, and fish in the mid-stream region of the Yenisei River (Siberia, Russia). Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 18127–18136 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5042-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5042-1

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