Том 43, № 7 (2016)

The environmental feasibility assessment of the construction and operation of nuclear power stations in near-border areas must take into account the requirements of the international and European environmental legislation. For the study on environment feasibility assessment of the Baltic NPP to meet the international standards, the following steps were taken: the content and the application practice of UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo) to NPP substantiation were analyzed and compared with the Russian procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA); water quality standards for water bodies used for fishery and the approaches to assessing the damage to aquatic bioresources in Russia, Lithuania (EU), and Belarus were compared. A transboundary network for monitoring aquatic ecosystems was developed in the zone of potential influence of the Baltic NPP, and a permanent mathematical model was developed and used to forecast the effect of the anticipated water discharge from the station on the hydrodynamic, chemical, and temperature regime of the Neman R., whose results were used to forecast the impact of water intake and discharge facilities of the Baltic NPP on the food base and migration character of ichthyofauna.

The effect of maximal design water extraction on groundwater levels, lake budgets, and vegetation in the Volzhsko–Kamskii Reserve was assessed with the use of a hydrodynamic scheme of interaction between groundwater and surface water, specially developed for the territory of the Zelenodol’skoe Fresh Groundwater Deposit and mathematical simulation. The first stage of deposit development was proved to have no such effect. A scheme of the further development of the deposit by the results of environmental monitoring is recommended.

Radioecological studies were carried out in a territory polluted by ⁹⁰Sr delivered by groundwater after leakage from a tank in a near-surface radioactive waste repository. The layer-by-layer vertical distribution of ⁹⁰Sr in soil down to 3 m is analyzed. The area of radioactive pollution above the minimal significant activity level (1 Bq/kg by NRB-99/2009) in the examined soil layers decrease with depth as follows: 1808 m² at 0–5 cm, 302 m² at 5–10 cm, and 181 m² at 10–15 cm. The accumulation of ⁹⁰Sr takes place at a natural sorption geochemical barrier—a swampy area in a near-terrace depression. The radiation dozes were calculated for terrestrial mollusk of Bradybaena fruticum, accumulating strontium in its shell; the doses are in excess of the screening value of 2.4 μGr/day in 41% of the territory. This is higher than the acceptable risk level (5%) for this mollusk population. An excess of the intervention level for ⁹⁰Sr was recorded in both subsurface and surface waters in this geosystem during winter and summer dry seasons and autumn showers.

Water–rock–gas system is simulated using a technique based on the fundamental principles of modern hydrogeochemistry regarding the formation parameters of natural-water chemistry to show that groundwater pollution hazard at a gold-bearing placer is acute for any site of water exchange changing from passive to active. Under passive water exchange, the products of sulfide oxidation are accumulated; whereas under active water exchange, the oxidation products are leached out to form acid drainage flows. The treatment of acid drainage water and the neutralization of acid solutions are more effective under reduction or weakly alkaline conditions.

Karst is regarded as a geological and physicochemical process of interaction between the natural water and soluble rock. Its development is possible only under non-equilibrium conditions in the “groundwater–congruently soluble rock” system. It is shown that intense karst development, leading to the formation of underground cavities and passages, is possible in the presence of advective transport of dissolved substance, which can redistribute its considerable amounts in a relatively short time. The specific features of karst development are considered in the case of its manifestation in carbonate, sulfate, and chloride rocks.

Earthquakes, among other natural phenomena, often cause loss of life and significant economic damage. According to the statistical data of the International Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (www.cred.be), earthquakes are among the leaders in all aspects: the number of fatalities, the number of injured, and the caused economic loss. The widely accepted strategy for reducing the damage and social losses implies preventive measures in high-risk zones identified by mapping with different details. About 5% of RF territory is referred to the areas characterized by a high level of seismic hazard, where earthquakes with intensities I = 8–9 and 9–10 by the MMSK-86 scale may occur. The Caucasus is among the most hazardous and densely populated regions in the country. During the preparation to the 2014 Olympic Games, the individual seismic risk was assessed for the Greater Sochi territory including the Olympic sites. The paper analyzes the results of seismic risk monitoring, obtained in 2007 and 2013.

Integrated assessment of possible soil degradation under cyclic loading caused by storm waves includes the analysis of hydrological data; the calculation of anticipated parameters of storm-wave amplitude–frequency spectrum and the corresponding shear forces; strength prediction based on experiments performed using the calculated wave parameters and loads; and the final analysis of soil behavior with regard to the time distribution of waves with different heights during the accepted storm activity period. The soil foundation stability was estimated for a site in the North Caspian shelf.

An original procedure for mapping hydrogeological windows is based on studying the geological structure of the massif overlaying the Podol’sko-Myachkovskii aquifer, changes in the hydrodynamic and hydrogeochemical conditions in the zone of “windows”; as well as calculating the travel time of contaminants in the vertical flow from the Meso-Cenozoic to Podol’sko-Myachkovskii Carboniferous aquifer. Both the areal and vertical distributions of low-permeability deposits are taken into account along with the variations of their thickness and permeability. The results obtained can be used in the development of groundwater protection measures and economic activity regulations in areas with hydrogeological windows.