Tritium in surface waters of the Yenisei River basin

Abstract

This paper reports an investigation of the tritium content in the surface waters of the Yenisei River basin near the Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC). In 2001 the maximum tritium concentration in the Yenisei River did not exceed 4 ± 1 Bq l –1, which is consistent with the data of 1998–99. However, it has been found that there are surface waters containing enhanced tritium as compared with the background values for the Yenisei River. For instance, in the Ploskii Stream and the Shumikha River the maximum tritium concentrations amount to 168 and 81 Bq l –1, respectively. The source of tritium in these surface waters is the last operating reactor at the MCC, which still uses the Yenisei water as coolant. In water and sediment samples of the Bolshaya Tel River (a tributary of the Yenisei River) the tritium content turned out to be at least 10 times higher than the background values for the Yenisei River. The measurements conducted at the RPA RADON (Moscow) revealed not only tritium but also the artificial radionuclide 14C in the Bolshaya Tel samples. The data obtained suggest that the Bolshaya Tel River receives the major part of tritium from sediments rather than from the water catchment area. This allows the conclusion that there is water exchange between the surface waters and the radioactively contaminated underground horizons of the “Severny” testing site.