The Content and Speciation of Radionuclides in Water and Bottom Sediments of the Laptev Sea

In the presented work, the features of the distribution of Cs-137 and plutonium isotopes in modern sediments of various parts of the Laptev Sea, selected during the expedition studies on the RV “Academician Mstislav Keldysh” in 2017 and 2019, were studied. It was found that the activity of Cs-137 in water and sediments is within the global level, which is typical for the seas of the Arctic region. In all the collected samples the specific content of Pu-239,240 isotopes is below the level of the minimum detectable activity. According to the results of isotope analysis of Pb-210, the sedimentation rates in two columns collected in the Laptev Sea are 0.18 and 0.23 cm/year. The study by several methods of the speciation forms of Pu-239, introduced into the samples of bottom sediments under laboratory conditions, showed that the main content of Pu-239 is associated with difficult-to-dissolve organo-mineral components. 30-39% Pu-239 was found in the composition of organic easily soluble acids and humic substances, which include fulvic and humic acids of bottom sediments.