Radioactive levels in Semipalatinsk remain problematic

Levels of radioactivity in northeastern Kazakhstan's former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing area remain a source of concern, IRIN learnt on Tuesday. One of three sites across the former Soviet Union where hundreds of nuclear tests occurred until 1990, its legacy continues to this day. "The radioactive situation has worsened," Larisa Ptitskaya, the director for the institute for radioactive security and ecology at the National Nuclear Centre of Kazakhstan, told IRIN from Kurchatov town, 130 km from Semipalatinsk. Attributing the downturn to both human and climatic factors, she noted that the radioactivity was moving as a result of dust flows and steppe fires in the region. According to the scientist, the situation was exacerbated by various illegal human activities, specifically the gathering of scrap metals, much of it radioactive, in the vicinity of the testing area. Most of the radionuclides lie only 15 to 20 cm below the ground surface and, once on the surface, can be easily dispersed through wind and dust. And while the testing facility had been long closed down, the need to guard and secure the problematic area had not been met, she asserted. Nuclear testing in the area, and the careless dumping of radioactive wastes during the Soviet era poisoned large swathes of Kazakh territory, impacting on hundreds of thousands of local residents and resulting in extensive ecological damage. Those living on contaminated land during and after the tests, together with their children, were exposed to high levels of radiation. They continue to live at greater risk of severe health ailments, including many forms of cancer, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, and other diseases, as well as birth defects. Moreover, the testing has contaminated agricultural and pastoral lands, drinking water and caused greater desertification in the area. But despite the enormity of the problem, resources for a full assessment have yet to be forthcoming. Preliminary research of soil and flora in the area reveals radioactivity levels to be irregularly dispersed. Ptitskaya said plutonium levels fluctuated between one and 65,000 Bq (becquerel - unit of radioactivity) per kg in one sq m. "This fact makes much of the test area like a minefield," she said, adding, however, that it did not necessarily mean that the whole territory was radioactive, but noting the need for a more comprehensive sampling to be undertaken. In order to obtain a clear picture of radiation levels on the ground, 54,000 samples needed to be taken and thoroughly analysed for cesium, strontium and plutonium. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, little documentation of the area was left and the newly established Kazakh government was forced to start from scratch. Ptitskaya said the effects of the problem were lingering, with radioactive water running through radioactive culverts. People continued to use untested water for drinking and washing purposes, while cattle still grazed in the area, noting in this respect that it was a proven fact that radionuclides remained in the bodies of cattle, from which they found their way into human bodies via both milk and meat. Yet another form of radiation transition was through respiration, with people digging for scrap metal inhaling radioactive particles, including so-called hot particles smaller than 10 micron with a very high radioactivity dosage. The Soviet Union tested almost 500 nuclear weapons, 116 of them above ground, in the Semey (Semipalatinsk) region. Often, such tests were conducted without evacuating or even alerting the local population. Although nuclear testing was halted in 1990, radiation poisoning, birth defects, severe aenemia, and leukemia has continued to affect the area. In 1997, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 52/159 M, calling on the international community to assist the Kazakh government in its efforts to meet the needs of those affected by the history of nuclear testing in the region surrounding the test site. Following the issuance of that resolution, the government established an inter-ministerial commission to examine the unique problems arising from nuclear tests.