From the Editor-in-Chief

I.V. Yarmoshenko

NUCLEAR ENERGY AS A TOOL TO ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY IN HUMAN ACTIVITIES TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE

N.V. Gorin, B.K. Vodolaga, V.P. Kuchinov, B.A. Gabaraev, V.V. Shidlovskiy

It is shown that sustainability of climate and social development has been under threat due to environmental pollution caused by burning of hydrocarbon energy carriers. One of the ways to ensure climate sustainability is the switch to energy technologies that reduce or, if possible, stop contamination of environment with hydrocarbon burning wastes. It is noted that among these technologies nuclear energy is the most effective tool. It is emphasized that nuclear energy together with renewables produces the least environmental impact and can become a future energy technology based on a new technological platform which provides a combination of fast neutron reactors and a closed fuel cycle. This is the only one energy technology that (if the current climate is conserved) is capable of providing the civilization with energy of about dozens of billion toe. The Group of Twenty (G-20) countries are able to take the most effective actions for the development of nuclear power industry. It is concluded that modern civilization has no more than one century left to adequately respond to modern climate challenges. It is noted that first of all a coal-fired power industry should be substituted by a cleaner technology.

TECHNOGENIC PARTICLES AS A SOURCE OF TOXIC ELEMENTS AND HEAVY METALS

E. O. Ilgasheva

 The article presents the results of a study of the chemical composition of technogenic particles collected in loose sediment in urbanized areas. The chemical composition was obtained using scanning electron microscopy, which established the presence and percentage of heavy metals and toxic elements included in such particles.

MODEL SOLUTION PREPARATION BY REVERSE OSMOSIS METHOD

S. M. Molchanov, D. D. Desyatov

A review of modern water purification methods is carried out, their main advantages and disadvantages are shown. Operation on the municipal water purification by reverse osmosis and evaporation methods in order to obtain demineralized water was carried out. The average salinity as a result of purification was: for distillation – 4.21 mg/l; for reverse osmosis – 3.16 mg/l. The average salt permeability and membrane selectivity after the first cycle was equal 15,00 % and 85,00 %, and after the second cycle parameters deteriorated to values 17,56 % and 82,44 %. Based on the obtained samples four variants of a model solution were prepared containing natural radionuclide K-40 with an expected specific activity in samples equal to 81.5 Bq/l, and a high convergence of purification results was demonstrated using two different processes.

ADEQUACY OF REGRESSION MODELS IN ECOLOGY AND MEDICINE: PRIMARY DATA, STRATIFICATION AND MOVING AVERAGE

А. N. Varaksin, Yu. V. Shalaumova, Е. D. Konstantinova, Т. А. Maslakova

Approaches to investigating the adequacy of linear and logistic regression models used in the fields of ecology and medicine are considered. Conventional approaches to testing the adequacy of linear regression models based on correlation relations are practically not used in real research. The methods of visual (expert) assessment of the linearity of the response-predictor relationship are not widely used in scientific publications. In this paper, we propose the utilisation of moving average methods as a method of investigating the adequacy of linear regression models. For logistic regression models, moving average and cumulative likelihood function methods, combined with graphical presentation of results, are proposed in addition to traditional stratification methods for testing the adequacy. The effectiveness of these approaches is demonstrated through examples.

A SCHEME OF AEROSOL MONITORING IN THE URALS: THE COMBINATION OF GROUND-BASED CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENTS AND NUMERICAL MODELING OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ATMOSPHERIC IMPURITIES

D. E. Vasilyeva, E. S. Nagovitsyna, V. M. Gadelshin

A monitoring scheme of the aerosol pollution in the Ural region is considered. The purpose of the scheme development is to determine the atmospheric aerosol content at an arbitrary point in the region, where direct measurements are not performed or are not possible. The scheme is based on the combination of data from a ground-based continuous measurement network and numerical modeling by the method of fluid-location of atmosphere (FLA). Due to the calculation of average aerosol concentration fields based on data from several monitoring sites, it is possible to characterize the control zone of the FLA modeling with the highest level of solution confidence.

ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT ON THE ARCTIC ENVIRONMENT FLOODED AND SUNKEN OBJECTS CONTAINING RADIONUCLIDES

S.V. Antipov, A.V. Grigoriev, M.N. Kobrinskiy, I.A. Saveliev

On On December 17, 1958, the FIRST Soviet nuclear submarine K-3 “Leninsky Komsomol” was accepted into the Navy from the industry. There were quite a few shortcomings. Including those related to the nuclear power plants (NPP). When troubleshooting the NPP, radioactive waste was inevitably generated. Their volumes became so large that the storage capacities of shipbuilding and ship repair plants, as well as the coastal technical bases of the fleet, were catastrophically insufficient. Therefore, at that time, apparently, the only correct decision was made – to sink them in temporary packaging in places where there is no shipping. The first sinking operations began in 1967. This practice ended only in 1991. In total, 80 operations were carried out during this period. ~17,000 objects were sunk, some of which contained SNF of varying levels of enrichment

In 1982, survey results showed that the Cs-137 content in the southern part of the Barents Sea reached 20-40 Bq/m3, which is almost 10 times higher than the background caused by global fallout.

Intensive industrial activity in the Arctic, which has been developing in recent years as a result of the development of hydrocarbon deposits, the extraction of various minerals, the growth of transport flows, the development of coastal infrastructure and the implementation of other types of industrial work, is permissible only if there is a reasonable long-term balance between economic benefits and environmental protection requirements.

The problem of sunken nuclear and radiation hazardous sites exists, and it is at the center of attention of the country’s leadership and the State Corporation Rosatom.

In the course of modern scientific studies on the analysis of various scenarios of hypothetical emergency situations, it was concluded that the presence of objects with spent nuclear fuel on the seabed can become a source of not a potential, but a real threat of radioactive contamination. Of all 17,000 objects, 6 are the most dangerous, but the nuclear submarines K-27 and B-159 are of particular concern, which can become a source of radioactive contamination of the Barents, Kara, White Seas and the Arctic Ocean. The nuclear submarine B-159 was not prepared for sinking, so the possibility of radioactive substances leaking outside the reactor vessel is quite high. In addition, the submarine sank near the city of Murmansk, as well as on the shipping and fishing route. And in the event of an accident, local underwater currents will carry radioactive substances not only across the Barents Sea, but also to the White Sea. The K-27 submarine was prepared for sinking, so additional safety barriers (filled with a furfural-based hardener) were created inside the pressure hull to prevent seawater from entering the core. However, during preparations for unloading SNF from the reactor of another Alpha-class submarine, serial number 900, it was established that the safety barriers similar to those created on the K-27 submarine were destroyed, and condensate was inside the cavities. Therefore, a similar situation is possible on the sunken object. According to the documents, the submarine preservation is currently calculated for a period of 50 years, and at present, after 42 years, this period is beginning to expire. In 2020-2021, work showed that in the situation of destruction of the K-27 submarine safety barriers, a little more than 1 liter of seawater is enough for the reactor to go into critical mode, and there may be voids in the core with a volume of up to 18 liters. Therefore, for the K-27 submarine, the probability of a self-propelled chain reaction is not excluded, including a self-propelled chain reaction of an explosive nature (depending on the rate of water inflow into the core, as a hypothetical scenario for the development of an accident).

EPR DOSIMETRY AS A METHOD FOR HUMAN RADIATION DOSE RECONSTRUCTION AFTER UNCONTROLLED RADIATION SITUATIONS

Shishkina E.A.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is the resonance absorption of electromagnetic radiation by unpaired electrons. The method clearly distinguishes impurity ions isomorphically included in the crystal lattice, as well as organic free radicals, and allows obtaining detailed information about the ion in the structure of surrounding atoms and molecules (valence, electron hybridization, chemical bonds, etc.). The ability to measure radiation-induced radicals by the EPR method is the basis of EPR dosimetry. The stability of radiation-induced radicals is the main condition for choosing a dosimeter when restoring radiation doses post factum (after uncontrolled radiation situations). Today, EPR dosimetry methods are being developed both for emergency response to radiation incidents and for retrospective dose assessments.

Calcified tissues and, in particular, tooth enamel turned out to be one of the most reliable biological EPR dosimeters. The method of retrospective EPR dosimetry on tooth enamel is widely used worldwide for external dosimetry. However, the method faces serious problems such as availability of tooth samples and the problems of metrological nature – the lack of a metrological standard for bio-samples.

Another problem is the presence of bone-seeking radionuclides in tooth enamel. In particular, Sr-90 was in the enamel of teeth of residents of radioactively contaminated areas of the Ural region. The paper provides an overview of methods and approaches that made it possible to overcome metrological problems and take into account the dose of internal enamel exposure. It is shown that the EPR dosimetry method is a good tool for retrospective studies in spite on high uncertainties for small and medium dose detection. EPR dosimetry can also become an expert tool for confirming the fact of exposure in the absence/loss of legally significant supporting documents.