(https://spbdnevnik.ru/) - The largest radioactive waste in the Kara Sea and the bays of Novaya Zemlya pose a serious danger to the ecology of the Arctic. This was told by the academician of the Institute of Oceanology. P. P. Shirshov RAS Mikhail Flint. He recalled that radioactive objects came to the territory of the region during the peaceful development of the atom, which began in the 50s of the last century and ended only in 1994.
“What gifts are at the bottom? This is a K-27 submarine with unloaded radioactive fuel: if 5 liters of water enter the reactor, an uncontrolled nuclear reaction will begin, that is, a nuclear explosion. Also, there are reactors of the Lenin nuclear icebreaker with unloaded nuclear fuel - everything that could not be disposed of on the shore was sent there, - the academician said. “In this regard, monitoring of waste (whether or not there is a leak) and integrated ecosystem studies (environments and biota) are necessary to understand what will happen as a result of a leak of radioactive waste: will it remain in the Kara Sea or fall into another Arctic.”
At the same time, the threat of global warming from the presence of microplastics in the Arctic is greatly exaggerated, the scientist believes. During numerous expeditions, the Institute's specialists filtered thousands of tons of water and sediments and found no microplastics in the aquatic environment.
Moreover, since the Holocene epoch (10 thousand years ago), the Arctic has gone through periods during which temperature fluctuations significantly exceeded the changes that are taking place now, and nature also adapted well to such processes, the scientist argues.
At the same time, he advises to take seriously the forecasts regarding the possibility of fishing in the region. There is not enough primary biological production and light for fish reproduction, he is sure.
The Institute of Oceanology intends to organize expeditions to the region in 2023 to study the peculiarities of climatic processes, biological productivity and matter fluxes (primarily carbon) in marine ecosystems. In addition, scientists plan to obtain new data on the oil and gas potential of the Russian continental shelf in the Arctic.
Another area of expedition work will be the continuation of research on containers with radioactive waste buried in Soviet times at the bottom of the Kara Sea. Together with scientists from the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia and several other organizations, the authors plan to clarify the parameters of accumulated environmental risks in this area.
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