Cleaning Up Sites Contaminated with Radioactive Materials International Workshop Proceedings (2009) / Chapter Skim
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7 Evaluation of Radiation Ecology Status Around Russian Nuclear and Radiation Enterprises Based on Landscape-Geochemical Research--V. I. Velichkin, Ye. N. Borisenko, A. Yu. Miroshnikov, V. I. Myskin, N. V. Kuzmenkova, and I. I. Chudnyavtseva
7 Evaluation of Radiation Ecology Status Around Russian Nuclear and Radiation Enterprises Based on Landscape-Geochemical Research--V. I. Velichkin, Ye. N. Borisenko, A. Yu. Miroshnikov, V. I. Myskin, N. V. Kuzmenkova, and I. I. Chudnyavtseva
Pages 32-42
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From page 32... ...
The data traditionally presented as the basis for rehabilitation of contaminated areas include information on the composition, quantity, and distribution of contaminants and on the soil cover in which they are found. This information makes possible an overall assessment of the current radiochemical status of the environment at the sites being studied, but it is insufficient both to reveal the conditions and mechanisms of contaminant migration and concentration and to predict how the studied ecosystems will change over time and space.
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From page 33... ...
The techniques developed at IGEM especially for assessing the environmental impacts of nuclear and radiation facilities have been elaborated and applied in practice by specialists from the institute's Laboratory of Radiogeology and Radiogeoecology. These techniques include the following: • Detection and characterization of actual and potential radiation sources • Identification and integrated study of the hierarchy of landscape geochemical systems as well as elementary landscapes and their transition zones • Studies within each landscape type of the composition and geochemical parameters of soil, vegetation, substrate rocks, surface water and groundwater, and bottom sediments of swamps, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs • Studies and assessments within each elementary landscape of distribution and availability modes of radioactive and stable contaminants in soil, vegetation, substrate horizons, river and lake water, and bottom sediments • Integrated assessment of migration and accumulation conditions of radioactive and stable contaminants within landscape geochemical systems and elementary landscapes on the basis of their geomorphological, soil-lithological, geochemical, hydrogeological, and biological features • Disclosure and studies of natural geochemical barriers and formation conditions of technogenic geochemical barriers • Creation of landscape geochemical and ecological geochemical maps in various scales Cartography is an integral component of these techniques.
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From page 34... ...
The second group includes the Nerpa Ship Repair Plant, which is among the enterprises that carry out specific operations connected with eliminating nuclear weapons carriers. The third group includes facilities engaged in work on particular stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, such as uranium ore extraction and processing enterprises (the Priargunsk Mining and Chemical Production Association -- PMCPA)
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From page 35... ...
At present, the currently operating enterprises of the Mayak Production Association emit into the atmosphere a regulated quantity of radioactive aerosols that causes practically no environmental damage. Planned discharges of lowactivity liquid radioactive wastes are also made into the reservoirs of the Techa Cascade and of medium-activity liquid wastes into Lake Karachai.
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From page 36... ...
, as well as sulfuric, nitric, and other acids. The contamination sources include tailings repositories for uranium ore processing and sulfuric acid production plants; dump sites for poor and unbalanced ores for heap leaching of uranium; an ash repository at the heating plant, which uses local hard coal; discharge sites for mine water; dump sites for unbalanced ores and worked rock; areas where uranium ores are strip mined; entrances to underground mines; and roads on which ore materials and worked rock are transported.
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From page 37... ...
The contaminants are transferred mainly in a suspended particulate state in the atmosphere and in surface water flows. Autonomous and subsidiary elementary geochemical landscapes have been defined in the landscape-geochemical system around the Nerpa Ship Repair Plant. It has been established that in the soil layer of the autonomous landscapes, the highest average contents of radioactive cesium (97 and 77 Bq/kg)
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From page 38... ...
The research that has been conducted indicates that the overall radioecological situation in the area around the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant meets current safety requirements. The radionuclides emitted by the plant during its normal operating regime are fully contained by the natural geochemical barriers that exist in the landscape.
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From page 39... ...
Meanwhile, continuing planned discharges of low-level liquid wastes into the reservoirs of the Techa Cascade and medium-level wastes into Lake Karachai are progressively contaminating the rock and groundwater beneath the reservoirs. Thus, radiation contamination of the soil cover in the natural landscapes
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From page 40... ...
The deposits of the Streltsov molybdenum-uranium ore field with its extensive and unique uranium reserves are located in the dry steppe zone in the southeastern part of the Lake Baikal region. The PMCPA, which processes these deposits, is Russia's only enterprise that mines and processes molybdenum-uranium ores.
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From page 41... ...
From an environmental standpoint, the most hazardous among them is the system of tailings repositories at the ore processing complex, which is located in a mountain valley in the northeastern part of the ore field. The repositories contain 30 million metric tons of accumulated solid wastes and 12 million cubic meters of liquid phase wastes, with both varieties containing uranium and its decay products as well as a number of toxic chemical substances.
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From page 42... ...
By analyzing the results obtained, it is possible to draw the general conclusion that the radiation ecology situation in the regions where the Nerpa Ship Repair Plant and the Smolensk and Balakovo nuclear power plants operate meets current safety requirements. Meanwhile, in the regions where the PMCPA and the Mayak Production Association are located, there are areas where the natural landscapes have been subjected to radiation and chemical contamination.
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