211 



During the '50's and early '60's at Novaya Zemlya we do not have 

 an exact answer on that, I think it is important to know because 

 I think there has been some more local fallout than we have 

 thought until now. 



And the second question, what has the runoff of radioactive sub- 

 stances with the Siberian rivers I mentioned before from nuclear 

 activities in the former USSR been? In particular, how much activ- 

 ity has been transported by the Ob River system to the Arctic 

 basin. And I can mention that there are connections we have with 

 the Russians in the Urals has now started, this cooperation has 

 now started a project on the Ob River, a very preliminary project. 

 In these days scientists from this institute are at the outlet of the 

 Ob River to the Arctic basin and taking some preliminary samples 

 in order to get an idea of what is in the sediments. 



And the third question, what are the radioecological impact of 

 the waste dumped at Novaya Zemlya. Will in particular the dis- 

 posed nuclear ship reactors influence the levels of the marine ra- 

 dioactivity in the Arctic? I do not consider this so important myself 

 as the runoff from the rivers. 



And the fourth question, what is the inventories of strontium and 

 cesium and plutonium in the Arctic Ocean? Are the levels higher 

 than expected to have the measurements carried out so far 



Unidentified Speaker. Excuse me, we can't hear. 



Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I'm sorry. If you can't hear, 

 we'll certainly 



Dr. Aarkrog. What are the inventories of strontium-90 and ce- 

 sium-37 and plutonium in the Arctic Ocean? Are the levels higher 

 than expected to have the measurements carried out so far been 

 too few for reliable estimates? The reason for this question is that 

 estimates made on the inventories in the Arctic Ocean is actually 

 coming out with higher levels than we would expect from the 

 known input to the Arctic Ocean. 



And then the last question, are the Arctic basin and the Siberian 

 rivers potentisd sources of contamination of important fishing areas 

 in the north Atlantic region and what would then be the radiologi- 

 cal impact. Personally I am not sure it would be very high. Thank 

 you. 



Senator Murkowski. Thank you very much. Dr. Aarkrog. 



Our next panelist will be Dr. Robert White, the Institute of Arc- 

 tic Biology, University of Alaska. And if you have trouble hearing 

 in the back, let us know. Please proceed. Dr. White. 



[The prepared statement of Dr. White follows:] 



