ACCUMULATION PECULIARITIES OF ARTIFICIAL RADIONUCLIDES IN THE ELEMENTS OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS ON THE KOLA PENINSULA

Abstract

Since 1991, the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute has carried out comprehensive investigations of radioactivity of Arctic and subarctic marine ecosystems, which are based on extensive documentary, geographic, and taxonomic materials. Long-term monitoring of artificial nuclides was focused on ecosystems of the Barents and White seas. Interest in this region stemmed from the availability of potential regional and local sources of radionuclide emission: atomic fleet bases, nuclear test sites on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, and radwaste burial sites on the shelf. Special attention was concentrated on study of the content and distribution of radioisotopes in ecosystems of numerous gulfs in the Kola Peninsula, since the possible emission of radionuclides to offshore zones of the Barents and White seas from objects of the atomic industry located on their coasts remains a pressing issue. In this respect, the necessity arises for carrying out further investigations of the state of the artificial radionuclide background in coastal ecosystems of the Kola Peninsula, which are most exposed to anthropogenic impact.