Vodnyi: a Long-term, Low-level Radiation Exposure Field Site in Russia

The Vodnyi site in the Komi Republic of Russia represents a unique radioecological field site. The history of industrial operations associated with radioactivity here spans the period 1931 to 1956. Initial operations focused on the extraction of radium from groundwater [226Ra concentration up to 7, 840pCi/L (290Bq/L)], In 1947, the extraction of uranium and radium from ores began. Radionuclide contamination in the Vodnyi region includes soils that had been in long-term contact with radium-rich groundwater, charcoal-and gypsum/anhydrite-bearing solid wastes associated with radium production from groundwater, and uranium/radium mill tailings. Environmental monitoring and radioecological investigations in the region began in 1957. Due to restrictive publication practices of the past, many of the radioecological studies done at the Vodnyi site have received limited attention outside the former Soviet Union (FSU). Our goal here is to introduce the Vodnyi site to a wider audience and to describe past and current investigations.