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Karcher M, Hosseini A, Schnur R, Kauker F, Brown JE, Dowdall M, Strand P. Modelling dispersal of radioactive contaminants in Arctic waters as a result of potential recovery operations on the dumped submarine K-27. Mar Pollut Bull 2017; 116:385-394. [PMID: 28118968 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Revised: 01/10/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Of the wide variety of dumped objects containing radioactive materials in the Arctic seas, the submarine K-27 constitutes a major risk due to the large amount of highly enriched uranium onboard and its location in shallow waters. As the matter of potential operations involving raising of the submarine have entered the public arena, a priori assessment of the contamination in the Arctic marine environment that could result after a possible accident during such operations is a matter of some interest. The dispersion of contaminants within the Arctic has been assessed using a large scale hydrodynamic model for a series of plausible accident scenarios and locations under different oceanographic regimes. Results indicate that, depending primarily on the nature of a release (i.e. instantaneous or continuous), large areas of the Arctic marine environment will exhibit contamination to varying degrees.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Karcher
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - A Hosseini
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway.
| | - R Schnur
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany
| | - F Kauker
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - J E Brown
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway
| | - M Dowdall
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway
| | - P Strand
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway; Centre for Environmental radioactivity (CERAD), Ås, Norway
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Hosseini A, Amundsen I, Brown J, Dowdall M, Karcher M, Kauker F, Schnur R. Impacts on the marine environment in the case of a hypothetical accident involving the recovery of the dumped Russian submarine K-27, based on dispersion of 137Cs. J Environ Radioact 2017; 167:170-179. [PMID: 27931878 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.11.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2016] [Revised: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing concern regarding the issue of dumped nuclear waste in the Arctic Seas and in particular dumped objects with Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF). Amongst dumped objects in the Arctic, the dumped Russian submarine K-27 has received great attention as it contains two reactors with highly enriched fuel and lies at a depth of about 30 m under water. To address these concerns a health and environmental impact assessment has been undertaken. Marine dispersion of potentially released radionuclides as a consequence of different hypothetical accident scenarios was modelled using the model NAOSIM. The outputs from the dispersion modelling have been used as inputs to food-chain transfer and environmental dosimetry models. The annual effective doses for subsistence fishing communities of the Barents-Kara seas region do not exceed 0.6 mSv for hypothetical accidents located at Stepovogo fjord or the Barents Sea. For high rate consumers of fish in Norway, following a potential accident at the Gremikha Bay, annual effects doses would be at around 0.15 mSv. Accumulated doses (over 90 days) for various organisms and for all release scenarios considered were never in excess of 150 μGy. The levels of 137Cs derived for marine organism in areas close to Norway were not values that would likely cause concern from a regulatory perspective although for subsistence fishing communities close to the considered accident locations, it is not inconceivable that some restrictions on fishing etc. would need to be introduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Hosseini
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Po Box 55, N-1332, Østerås, Norway.
| | - I Amundsen
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Po Box 55, N-1332, Østerås, Norway
| | - J Brown
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Po Box 55, N-1332, Østerås, Norway
| | - M Dowdall
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Po Box 55, N-1332, Østerås, Norway
| | - M Karcher
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany
| | - F Kauker
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany
| | - R Schnur
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 4, 20249 Hamburg, Germany
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Brown J, Hosseini A, Karcher M, Kauker F, Dowdall M, Schnur R, Strand P. Derivation of risk indices and analysis of variablility for the management of incidents involving the transport of nuclear materials in the Northern Seas. J Environ Manage 2016; 171:195-203. [PMID: 26895720 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Revised: 01/22/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The transport of nuclear or radioactive materials and the presence of nuclear powered vessels pose risks to the Northern Seas in terms of potential impacts to man and environment as well socio-economic impacts. Management of incidents involving actual or potential releases to the marine environment are potentially difficult due to the complexity of the environment into which the release may occur and difficulties in quantifying risk to both man and environment. In order to address this, a state of the art oceanographic model was used to characterize the underlying variability for a specific radionuclide release scenario. The resultant probabilistic data were used as inputs to transfer and dose models providing an indication of potential impacts for man and environment This characterization was then employed to facilitate a rapid means of quantifying risk to man and the environment that included and addressed this variability. The radionuclide specific risk indices derived can be applied by simply multiplying the reported values by the magnitude of the source term and thereafter summing over all radionuclides to provide an indication of total risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Brown
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway; CERAD, Ås, Norway
| | - A Hosseini
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway; CERAD, Ås, Norway
| | - M Karcher
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 420249 Hamburg, Germany; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - F Kauker
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 420249 Hamburg, Germany; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - M Dowdall
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway.
| | - R Schnur
- O.A.Sys - Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH, Tewessteg 420249 Hamburg, Germany
| | - P Strand
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, PO Box 55, N-1332 Østerås, Norway; CERAD, Ås, Norway
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Jahn A, Aksenov Y, de Cuevas BA, de Steur L, Häkkinen S, Hansen E, Herbaut C, Houssais MN, Karcher M, Kauker F, Lique C, Nguyen A, Pemberton P, Worthen D, Zhang J. Arctic Ocean freshwater: How robust are model simulations? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2012jc007907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Karcher M, Beszczynska-Möller A, Kauker F, Gerdes R, Heyen S, Rudels B, Schauer U. Arctic Ocean warming and its consequences for the Denmark Strait overflow. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2010jc006265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Dorn W, Dethloff K, Rinke A, Frickenhaus S, Gerdes R, Karcher M, Kauker F. Sensitivities and uncertainties in a coupled regional atmosphere-ocean-ice model with respect to the simulation of Arctic sea ice. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006jd007814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- W. Dorn
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - K. Dethloff
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - A. Rinke
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - S. Frickenhaus
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Bremerhaven Germany
| | - R. Gerdes
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Bremerhaven Germany
| | - M. Karcher
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Bremerhaven Germany
| | - F. Kauker
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Bremerhaven Germany
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Holloway G, Dupont F, Golubeva E, Häkkinen S, Hunke E, Jin M, Karcher M, Kauker F, Maltrud M, Morales Maqueda MA, Maslowski W, Platov G, Stark D, Steele M, Suzuki T, Wang J, Zhang J. Water properties and circulation in Arctic Ocean models. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006jc003642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Proshutinsky A, Yang J, Krishfield R, Gerdes R, Karcher M, Kauker F, Koeberle C, Hakkinen S, Hibler W, Holland D, Maqueda M, Holloway G, Hunke E, Maslowski W, Steele M, Zhang J. Arctic ocean study: Synthesis of model results and observations. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2005eo400003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Rinke A, Gerdes R, Dethloff K, Kandlbinder T, Karcher M, Kauker F, Frickenhaus S, Köberle C, Hiller W. A case study of the anomalous Arctic sea ice conditions during 1990: Insights from coupled and uncoupled regional climate model simulations. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2002jd003146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Rinke
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - R. Gerdes
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - K. Dethloff
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - T. Kandlbinder
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - M. Karcher
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - F. Kauker
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - S. Frickenhaus
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - C. Köberle
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
| | - W. Hiller
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Potsdam Germany
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Abstract
99Tc levels were measured in seawater samples collected between 2000 and 2002 in the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) and along the western coast of Svalbard or Spitzbergen and compared with available oceanographic 3-D modelling results for the late 1990s. Additional data from related regions are also presented in order to support the data interpretation. The seawater in the Arctic fjord Kongsfjorden on the western coast of Svalbard is influenced by the WSC, as shown by the 99Tc levels in surface water. By means of the WSC, 99Tc reaches the Eastern Fram Strait, where one branch of the WSC turns west into the East Greenland Current (EGC), and another branch continues northwards into the Arctic Ocean. Surface seawater collected in the central part of the WSC during a cruise on board the R/V "Polarstern" in the summer of 2000, showed higher levels of (99)Tc than samples measured in Kongsfjorden in the spring of 2000. However, all levels measured in surface water are of the same order of magnitude. Data from sampling of deeper water in the WSC and EGC provide information pertaining to the lateral distribution of 99Tc. In all vertical profiling surveys (conducted in spring and summer), the highest levels of 99Tc were found in surface water. Comparison with oceanographic 3-D modelling indicates both significant seasonal variations in the lateral stratification of the WSC and variations with depth over shorter vertical distances. This information can be applied in sampling strategies, environmental monitoring, long-range transport of pollutants and physical oceanography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Gerland
- Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Environmental Unit, The Polar Environmental Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
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Proshutinsky A, Steele M, Zhang J, Holloway G, Steiner N, Hakkinen S, Holland D, Gerdes R, Koeberle C, Karcher M, Johnson M, Maslowski W, Walczowski W, Hibler W, Wang J. Multinational effort studies differences among Arctic Ocean models. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2001. [DOI: 10.1029/01eo00365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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