Assessment of impact from the Fukushima nuclear plant accidental emission on western Arctic seas (Barents Sea case study)

In March–April 2011, isotopes typical for the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (NPP) were found in high-latitude areas of Europe (Svalbard and Kola Peninsula). The background characteristics of the spectrum and activity of radionuclides in the components of the marine environment and the Barents Sea biota were studied for the rest of 2011. It has been shown that these characteristics are within the limits of the stable background formed by the global circulation of radionuclides. Radionuclides that can reliably indicate a trace from the Fukushima-1 NPP have not been found. It is concluded that the probable humid and dry precipitation of isotopes into the land water-catchment area and the marine basin had no effect on the radioecological situation in the coastal zones and in the open-sea parts of the western Arctic.