title: Characterization of biocenoses in the storage reservoirs of liquid radioactive wastes of Mayak PA. Initial descriptive report.
abstract: As a result of operation of the Mayak Production Association (Mayak PA), Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, an enterprise for production and separation of weapon-grade plutonium in the Soviet Union, ecosystems of a number of water bodies have been radioactively contaminated. The article presents information about the current state of ecosystems of 6 special industrial storage reservoirs of liquid radioactive waste from Mayak PA: reservoirs R-3, R-4, R-9, R-10, R-11 and R-17. At present the excess of the radionuclide content in the water of the studied reservoirs and comparison reservoirs (Shershnyovskoye and Beloyarskoye reservoirs) is 9 orders of magnitude for (90)Sr and (137)Cs, and 6 orders of magnitude for alpha-emitting radionuclides. According to the level of radioactive contamination, the reservoirs of the Mayak PA could be arranged in the ascending order as follows: R-11, R-10, R-4, R-3, R-17 and R-9. In 2007-2012 research of the status of the biocenoses of these reservoirs in terms of phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacterioplankton, zoobenthos, aquatic plants, ichthyofauna, avifauna parameters was performed. The conducted studies revealed decrease in species diversity in reservoirs with the highest levels of radioactive and chemical contamination. This article is an initial descriptive report on the status of the biocenoses of radioactively contaminated reservoirs of the Mayak PA, and is the first article in a series of publications devoted to the studies of the reaction of biocenoses of the fresh-water reservoirs of the Mayak PA to a combination of natural and man-made factors, including chronic radiation exposure.
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pryakhin
authors.affiliation: Mayak PA, Ozersk, Russia.
authors.forename: Yu G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Mokrov
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia; Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Tryapitsina
authors.affiliation: Ozersk Institute of Technology NRNU MEPhI, Ozersk, Russia.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Osipov
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: N I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Atamanyuk
authors.affiliation: Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Deryabina
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Shaposhnikova
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Shishkina
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Obvintseva
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Egoreichenkov
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Styazhkina
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: O F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Osipova
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: N I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Mogilnikova
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Andreev
authors.affiliation: Mayak PA, Ozersk, Russia.
authors.forename: O V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Tarasov
authors.affiliation: Russian Institute of Agricultural Radiobiology and Agricultural Ecology, Obninsk, Russia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Geras'kin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UrB RAS, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Trapeznikov
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia; Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Akleyev
mesh_terms: D058448:Biota; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D011850:Radioactive Waste / Q000032:analysis; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012426:Russia; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011850:Radioactive Waste; D011868:Radioisotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive
keywords: Biocenoses; Hydrobionts; Radioecology; Radionuclides; Water ecosystems