The Kara Sea, north of Russia, has decommissioned nuclear submarine reactors and contaminated sediments in its shallow coastal waters. Seasonally, sea ice and/or water from the Kara Sea may move eastward through the Vil'kitskogo Strait into the Laptev Sea. This "route" eventually allows ice and/or waterborne pollutants to drift across the Arctic Ocean and exit into the Greenland Sea or reach the shores of Alaska and Canada (Beaufort Sea). Sea ice arches indicate direction and periods of increased wind-driven sea ice transport through this Strait. High resolution atmospheric numerical model output, remote sensing imagery, and Russian meteorological data have been used to examine the physics of ice transport through a narrow strait. This analysis has shown that moderate westerly winds (not extreme) are sufficient to move sea ice from the Kara Sea to the Laptev Sea during the autumn ice growth/pollutant entrainment period.
The Office of Naval Research is sponsoring an arctic nuclear waste assessment program (ANWAP) in the peripheral seas of the eastern Arctic. The Kara Sea (Fig. 1) north of Russia has been singled out as a potential threat to coastal countries in the northern hemisphere due to decommissioned nuclear reactors and river-sediments in its shallow waters. In the open-water months (-June-October) coastal waters will move from the Kara Sea eastward to the Laptev Sea due to a steady current [Zubov, 1943]. The key eastern exit point is the ViI'kitskogo Strait. Once this "stream" reaches the Laptev Sea, any pollutants carried with it can be transported toward the Greenland or Beaufort Seas with possible impact on Iceland, Canada or Alaska (Fig. 2). However, the Kara Sea is usually covered by sea ice from November through May. Pollutants in the water column can become incorporated into sea ice during the fall as it freezes.
