336 



downstream and upstream. Technogenic radionuclides were found in fish caught close to 

 the city of Krasnoyarsk. The maximimi concentration of phosphorus-32 (5.0 -lO'^ Ci/kg), 

 which is the principal nuclide produce, was found in a grayling caught in the area of the 

 town of Pavlovshin (60 km downstream fi-om the discharge). The analysis that was 

 performed indicates that practically throughout the entire 1,000 km-long sector of the 

 river under study, contaminated fish consumed by the local population is the major 

 component of the possible dose load. 



The density of contamination of the flood plain in terms of total technogenic 

 nuclides varied with the distance from the source, from 160 to 0.2 ^Ci/m^ According to 

 the data from the Institute of Biological Problems of the North of the Far Eastern 

 Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in Chukotka the general y- 

 background of natural radioactivity is 15-30 /xr/hr (which does not exceed permissible 

 levels and is somewhat different from other areas). 



In the north of the Krasnoyarsk kray the y -background is 25-30 nr/hr. In the 

 Magadan oblast, the y-background is 15-30 fii/ta, with cesium-137 and strontium-90 (i.e. 

 products of nuclear decay after explosions) making practically no contribution to the 

 radioactive backgrotmd in the North. 



The radioactivity of venison muscles was determined as 0.1-2.7/10^ Ci/kg which is 

 0.03 per kg (or 3%) and is permissible for these products. 



In the city of Mirny (basin of the Vilyuy River) the y-background does not exceed 

 permissible levels. 



According to data from the Leningrad Institute of Radiation Hygiene, the natural 

 radioactive background in the North is high, which is typical of the North in general. 

 Reindeer moss accumulates and absorbs radioactive substances, which may result in a 

 higher radioactive background in deer and in human bodies. It is known that 

 radionuclides play a greater role in the state of health than the y-background. 



Sociological and demographic studies tracking the connection between 

 contamination of the environment with radionuclides, chemical agents, and also the 

 physical components of the radiation factor, are currently underway in the Altay kray. It 

 was revealed that in 40 years, starting in 1950 (the time of the first nuclear tests), a 

 complex demographic situation has developed in the kray, partly due to an increase in 

 environmental stress. 



During the period from 1950 through 1990, its population increased from 

 2,396,200 to 2,828,300. The total population increase was 432,100 or 18.0%. This 

 amount of population growth over 40 years cannot be accepted as su£Bcient 



