Anthropogenic radionuclides in seawater of the Far Eastern Seas

Large quantities of radioactive wastes have been dumped in the Far Eastern Seas by the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, and small amounts of radioactive wastes have been dumped by Japan and the Republic of Korea. In order to investigate the concentrations of anthropogenic radionuclides in the nine dumping areas, a second expedition was conducted in 1995 by Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and IAEA, following the first expedition in 1994. The results show that ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr and ^239+240Pu concentrations in surface and bottom waters at dumping areas do not significantly differ from the values observed in background areas, and from historical values. There is no clear effect of possible contamination due to radioactive waste dumping. The concentrations and water column inventories of ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr and ^239+240Pu in the Far Eastern seas are controlled by physical oceanic processes such as horizontal transport and biogeochemical processes such as scavenging.