Assessment of the radiation condition of the territory and the Coastal water area of the Amderma settlement of Nenets Autonomous Okrug

This publication describes the ongoing cycle of works aimed at the radiation survey in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, in order to assess the primary (background) levels of human-made radionuclides before starting work on lifting and disposing of flooded and sunken radiation facilities with spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste based on the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Assuring National Safety for the period up to 2035 approved by the Government Decree No. 645 dated 26 October, 2020. Materials and Methods: The radiation survey was carried out in the coastal zone of residential areas near the site of the flooding of the K-27 nuclear submarine and radiation facilities in the Kara Sea: the Amderma settlement, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as well as its natural waters. The article includes results of measuring the ambient dose equivalent rate of gamma radiation in open areas by the pedestrian gamma survey method, and determining the content of human-made radionuclides in samples of environmental media (soil, bottom sediments, aquatic vegetation) and local foodstuffs by gamma spectrometric and radiometric methods with preliminary sampling in accordance with the established procedure provided by current regulatory documents and guidelines. Results and Discussion: the research results show that the state of the surveyed area is generally stable in terms of radiation factor; the content of radionuclides is at the background level characteristic of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, not exceeding radiation safety standards. External and internal public radiation exposure was assessed. Conclusion: It was shown that the public radiation dose is formed mainly due to natural radiation sources. As part of this work, an electronic database module was developed based on the results of radiation monitoring in the Amderma settlement, which is part of the general database (registration certificate No. 2022621890).

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