Radioecological monitoring of transboundary rivers of the Central Asian Region

Results of radioecological investigation of Central Asian rivers are presented. Investigation was done as part of the Navruz Project, a cooperative, transboundary river monitoring project involving rivers and institutions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and facilitated by Sandia National Laboratories in the United States. The study of waterborne radionuclides and metals concentrations in Central Asia is of particular interest because of the history of nuclear materials mining, fabrication, transport, and storage there, when it was part of the Soviet Union. This development left a legacy of radionuclides and metals contamination in some Central Asian regions, which poses a clear health hazard to populations who rely heavily upon surface water for agricultural irrigation and direct domestic consumption. (author)