Recent radionuclide concentrations in the North Sea as a result of discharges from nuclear installations / Konzentration von Radionukliden in der Nordsee infolge von Einleitungen radioaktiver Abwässer aus kerntechnischen Einrichtungen

Abstract

During the last years, discharges of most radionuclides from the reprocessing plants at Sellafield (UK) and La Hague (F) were reduced significantly. Consequently, concentrations in water and biota for the dose-relevant radionuclides decreased accordingly. The highest discharges took place in the middle of the seventies at Sellafield. Since the beginning of the seventies, concentrations could be observed in the North Sea, resulting from discharges from the reprocessing plant at Cap de La Hague into the Channel and from Sellafield into the Irish Sea. Current patterns with their water mass transport through the North Sea into adjacent sea areas such as Baltic Sea, Norwegian Sea, Greenland Sea and Arctic Ocean could be observed by means of these artificial water mass tracers. On the other hand, particularly the discharges of Tc-99, 1-129, Sr-90, C-14, and Tritium increased during the recent years. The consequences for the environment due to the higher discharges of the radionuclide Tc-99 are discussed.