Such ecological expeditions were already conducted in 2011 and 2012 by Russian scientists from Khlopin Radium Institute (the oldest organization within ROSATOM and the first in the USSR specialized organization, which started studying radioactive substances, their production and application). Traditionally, the research ship Professor Khlyustin runs through the Sea of Japan along the eastern coast of the Kuril Islands. On board, beside nuclear specialists there are representatives of the Russian Weather Service (Rosgidromet), the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), and the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University.
In the past years, as based on the inspection results, the level of contamination with man-made radionuclide was close to background. However, it was necessary to recheck it and get certain that the situation didn’t change to the worse. “The samples taken in 2011–2012 demonstrated that everything was sufficiently clean but the information has to be updated continuously. The radiation situation near Fukushima-Daiichi is known, but it is unknown how radiation is spreading in the sea and coastal stripe. During the expedition we can get reliable information. These data are necessary for the nuclear power to develop safely; people need them, and they are necessary for existing NPPs and those under construction,” Stanislav Shabalev, Head of the Laboratory of Radioecological Basics of Safety and Radioecological Monitoring of the Radium Institute, said before the expedition headed off.
The Professor Khlyustin left Vladivostok on September 25; the trip took exactly one month. This year the program of studies in the sea and on islands was broader. During expedition, samples of air aerosols, seawater were taken in all planned locations to check on the contents of cesium-137, strontium-90, plutonium and tritium isotopes.
The expedition was a success. The Russian Far East may have a peaceful sleep: the expedition’s preliminary findings have been already available and they say there is no danger. “This could have been said even earlier, but who would believe? So the scientists went to get facts,” Victor Tishkov, an employee of the Khlopin Radium Institute, comments. Right on board the seawater samples were preliminary treated in the chemical laboratory to detect presence of cesium, strontium and plutonium. Activity of the resulted deposit will be determined later, in the Khlopin Radium Institute in St. Petersburg. The final data of the studies will be published in six months.
In parallel with taking samples of water and air for examinations in St. Petersburg, the scientists collected water to analyze it for tritium content and to study in situ how migration of man-made radionuclides progresses after an accident and its elimination efforts. The researchers focused on sea fauna as well. The expedition will return with a collection of fishes, mainly bullheads and calamari, which will be checked on radionuclide presence.
