129I and 137Cs tracer measurements in the Arctic Ocean

The tracers 129I and 137Cs were measured in 1993 in the Barents and Kara Seas and western Arctic Ocean. Findings indicated that the tracers were in excess of fallout levels, owing mainly to inputs of Atlantic-origin water contaminated by discharges from the Sellafield and La Hague nuclear reprocessing plants. Elevated levels of the tracers were also found in halocline and Atlantic layer water in the Makarov and Canada Basins, reflecting the labelling of these water masses by discharges from the European reprocessing plants.