Fine-grained sediment and radionuclide adsorption in the Ob Gulf, Yenisey River, and Kara Sea, Russia

Since the dawn of the nuclear age in the late 1950's, atomic bomb tests and the usage of nuclear-powered reactors and nuclear-powered submarines have introduced millions of Curies of radioactivity into the Russian Kara Sea and the adjacent Ob Gulf, Yenisey and Pyasina Rivers. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that up to 3 million Ci of radioactivity exist in a number of nuclear reactors sunk in the Kara Sea. In response to this report, the Office of Naval Research formed the Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Program (ANWAP). ANWAP addresses the possibility of a sudden and complete release of the radioactive material and its effect on man and the environment. One such fate of the leached material is adsorption onto deposited sediment.;Information on the reconnaissance of the surface sediment in the Ob Gulf and Yenisey River in English is limited. Only in recent years has information in Russian become available. The surface Holocene sediment in the Ob Gulf and Yenisey River averages a fine silt. The Ob Gulf shows a uniform distribution while the Yenisey gradually fines northward. The clay mineralogy of the surface sediment in both the river regions and the Kara Sea show a roughly equal and high compliment of illite and smectite. The presence of organic matter as measured by the % TOC shows a high compliment with primarily a terrigenous source.;These sediment properties relate to the adsorption of the man-made radionuclides ;Currently the annual contribution of radioactivity to the Kara Sea is low in comparison to worldwide concentrations. The sudden and complete leaching of 3 million Ci of radioactivity possess a serious threat to individuals and nature.