Abstract

Simulations of the spread of radioactive contamination (RC) with cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) as a passive impurity were performed using the Institute of Numerical Mathematics Ocean Model (INMOM) to assess the radiation threat from the Komsomolets nuclear submarine (NS) on the northeastern slope of the Norwegian Sea at a depth of 1680 m caused by the possible leakage of radionuclides from the reactor compartment into the surrounding sea water. These simulations have shown that RC in the bottom layer generally spreads along the depth slope to the north and south of the source. Such a variability of the direction of RC transport is caused by the variability of the bottom current velocities, which is confirmed by the data of field measurements. As the distance from the source increases, the concentration of RC significantly decreases due to dilution in the surrounding waters. In the interior of the sea, the concentration is several orders of magnitude lower than in the source. The inflow of RC into surface waters due to turbulent mixing and convective motions of waters in the complex three-dimensional structure of circulation in the Norwegian Sea is simulated. It is shown that the excess of the surface concentration of RC over the bottom one observed in the measurements cannot be associated with emissions from the Komsomolets. The near-surface concentration of RC is most likely caused by the spread of RC from nuclear processing plants in northern Europe. In general, it has been shown that the currently possible RC from the Komsomolets does not exceed the background level of radioactive contamination of the waters of the Norwegian Sea.

中文翻译：

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挪威海底污染的传播

摘要

使用数字海洋数学模型（INMOM）进行了以铯137（¹³⁷ Cs）作为被动杂质的放射性污染（RC）扩散的模拟，以评估Komsomolets的辐射威胁由于放射性核素可能从反应堆舱室泄漏到周围海水中，导致挪威海东北坡深1680 m处的核潜艇（NS）。这些模拟表明，底层的RC通常沿深度斜率扩展到源的北部和南部。RC传输方向的这种变化是由底部电流速度的变化引起的，这已由现场测量数据证实。随着距水源距离的增加，由于周围水域的稀释，RC的浓度显着降低。在海洋内部，浓度比源头低几个数量级。在挪威海复杂的三维循环结构中，由于湍流混合和水的对流运动，RC流入地表水中。结果表明，在测量中观察到的RC表面浓度超过底部的过量，不能与来自RC的排放有关。Komsomolets。RC的近地表浓度很可能是由于北欧核工厂的RC扩散所致。总的来说，已经表明，目前从Komsomolets中获得的RC不会超过挪威海水域放射性污染的背景水平。