Previous studies showed elevated tritium levels in the area of the South Kuril Islands
An expedition to study the consequences of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima-1 NPP was launched August 24, 2024, as the research vessel Professor Gagarinsky set out from the Port of Vladivostok on its 29-day scientific mission, the Vladivostok based V.I. Il'ichev POI said.
Laboratory analyses of the first water samples obtained during the expedition on the RV Akademik Oparin in June-July 2024 showed elevated tritium levels in the basic Kuroshio ocean current and in the area of the South Kuril Islands. The objective of the new expedition is a more thorough study of the waters of the Kuril Islands and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, which is a fishing zone of Russia.
Specialists will be collecting samples of water, marine biota and bottom sediments, conduct a study of the structure of currents and the nature of water exchange between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, study the transfer of ocean waters through the Kuril Ridge Strait, obtain data on gas exchange processes, biogeochemical characteristics of waters and their interannual variability due to global warming and increasing anthropogenic impact.
The expedition will last 29 days. Scientists from G.B. Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (PIBOC) joined the team of the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in this mission.
The RV Professor Gagarinsky is part of the scientific support fleet of the National Operator of the Research Fleet (NatsONIF). The vessel was built in 1987 in Khabarovsk.
Key particulars: LOA: 55.76 m; Breadth: 9.49 m; Depth: 5.16 m; Displacement: 1157 tonnes; DWT: 329; Max / operating speed: 12/10 knots; Class: KM * L2 I1I A2, Navigation area: unlimited; Crew: 23 people; scientific personnel: 17 people; YB: 1987; Khabarovsk Shipyard.