AMAP Assessment 2009: Radioactivity in the Arctic.

Abstract

"This report is one of the detailed assessment reports that provide the accessible scientific basis and validation for the statements and recommendations made in the AMAP State of the Arctic Environment report, ‘Arctic Pollution 2009’ that was delivered to Arctic Council Ministers at their meeting in Tromsø, Norway in April 2009. It includes extensive background data and references to the scientific literature, and details the sources for figures reproduced in the ‘Arctic Pollution 2009’ report. Whereas the ‘Arctic Pollution 2009’ report contains recommendations that specifically focus on actions aimed at improving the Arctic environment, the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report also cover issues of a more scientific nature, such as proposals for filling gaps in knowledge, and recommendations relevant to future monitoring and research work, etc. To allow readers of this report to see how AMAP interprets and develops its scientifically-based assessment product in terms of more action-orientated conclusions and recommendations, the ‘Executive Summary of the Arctic Pollution 2009 Ministerial Report’, which also covers other priority issues (Persistent Organic Pollutants, and Radioactivity), is reproduced in this report on pages vii to xii. The AMAP assessment is not a formal environmental risk assessment. Rather, it constitutes a compilation of current knowledge about the Arctic region, an evaluation of this information in relation to agreed criteria of environmental quality, and a statement of the prevailing conditions in the area. The assessment presented in this report was prepared in a systematic and uniform manner to provide a comparable knowledge base that builds on earlier work and can be extended through continuing work in the future."