ARKHANGELSK, August 13. /TASS/. Participants in the Arctic Floating University expedition recorded very low values of radioactivity during missions ashore Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, Senior Researcher at the Laverov Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies' Environmental Radiology Laboratory (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Urals Branch) Andrey Puchkov told TASS. Results of studies conducted in the 2025 season have shown an increase in the radon flux in the coastal area of the Russian Harbor Bay on Novaya Zemlya compared to results of observations conducted in 2024. The expedition in 2026 has found no anomalies.
"We measured radon at all missions ashore. The values ranged from the minimum - less than one millibecquerel (mBq) per square meter per second - to 200 millibecquerels per square meter per second. All the recorded indicators are background values. Permafrost, which performs a barrier, shielding function, does not allow radioactive gases to the surface. The radon flux density's highest values most likely are related to geological features of the territories, to fault and fractured zones," the expert said.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is formed by the decay of uranium. The gas is volatile, and its ecological role is very high. Warming in the Arctic leads to the permafrost melting and increases radon's release to the surface.
