Radioactivity in the Kola Peninsula, Russia

Russia’s military and civilian nuclear powered maritime fleets operate in the Kola and Motovsky Bays on the northwest Arctic coast of Russia. The region has the highest concentration of nuclear reactors, active and derelict, in the world. There has been great concern that nuclear-related activities along the Kola coast have resulted in unintentional discharges of radionuclides into the surrounding land, air, and sea. Akvaplan-niva researchers cooperating with Murmansk Marine Biological Institute scientists investigated the sources, distributions, and behavior of anthropogenic radionuclides in this region A complimentary study of discharges of nuclear waste from the civilian nuclear icebreaker facility, ‘RTP ATOMFLOT’ was also carried out. Although radioactive waste leakage into the marine environment was detected at several locations, the impact of these nuclear activities on the environment has been minimal.

Funding:

Internally funded research

Contact for more information

Anita Evenset or JoLynn Carroll

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