Methodology for assessment of man-caused contamination of the Semipalatinsk test site

Full text: Nuclear test sites actively operated for a log time within Kazakhstan cased a considerable destabilization in the ecological balance of the country. The Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) where 456 nuclear explosions were conducted in 1949-1989 is one of the major sources of the radiological hazard for members of the public in Kazakhstan. Over a million of people were affected to radiation, the majority to low doses but in some areas to a cumulative dose of 2-4 Gy. Authors of the present report offer a methodology for ecological assessment of man-caused contamination of the STS area, based on a systems analysis comprised of the following blocks : 1) To divide the STS area into economically worth sites; 2) To carry out experimental studies to identify biologically available radionuclides, critical sites, and regularities of identified radionuclides' distribution in soils of critical sites; 3) To calculate radionuclide migration rates for soil-plant-animal pathways using mathematical modeling methods; 4) To model radionuclide behavior in the soil-plant-animal system within critical sites; 5) To calculate ecological parameters necessary for determination of human exposure dose and justify use of critical sites for economic activities; 6) To determine levels of ecological destabilization of critical sites; 7) To establish a geo informational system for mapping critical sites and forecast mapping of the entire STS area. Studies performed made it possible to establish a forecast geo ecological map of the STS