Radioactive contamination distribution in the bottom sediments and water of the Mishelyak River

Abstract

Joint Russian-American field studies have been conducted within theframework of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Atomic Energyfor the Russian Federation and the U.S. Department of Energy and managed bythe Joint Coordinating Committee on Environmental Restoration and Waste Management(JCCEM). We conducted the field studies discussed in this report in 1996 nearthe Mayak Production Association in the South Urals, Russia. The primary purposeof the research was to apply new methods to study the distribution of a contaminantplume originating from Lake Karachai, an unlined radioactive waste repository,which is currently migrating into the Mishelyak River valley. This researchwas conducted within the frontal part of the contaminant water plume. Thestudies from this work include: surface water and soil moisture sampling within situ radiometric measurements. The data from the radiometric measurementsobtained in the field were then compared to laboratory measurements of fieldsamples. Due to the possible inflow of the radionuclides from the groundwaterto the Mishelyak River, this paper also describes the study of river bottomsediments and water contamination.