Radioecological research is among the key types of activities of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan aiming to study the radiological situation and consequences of nuclear tests within the former Semipalatinsk Test Site and in other areas of adverse radiological situation.
2008 through 2021, the NNC RK specialists conducted a comprehensive ecological survey of the entire test site area – larger than 18.300 km². The efforts were taken over a uniform observation network breaking down the territory into 13 areas, which allowed for obtaining comparable data all over the test site area including unsurveyed areas.
Within the scope of the survey, a range of field and laboratory research was undertaken including:
Based upon the survey results, the distribution of radionuclides was identified at the test site, fallout areas revealed, lands posing a radiological hazard to the public delimited. The main radioactively contaminated sites are localized within the test locations (Experimental Field, Degelen, Balapan, Sary-Uzen, Aktan-Berli, Telkem and others), as well as in territories exposed to the fallout.
The comprehensive survey data passed a state environmental expert examination and is used to create the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Safety Zone (SNSZ). These materials are also applied in planning rehabilitation measures and arranging the monitoring. Methodological approaches and outputs were positively appraised by international experts including professionals from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 5, 2023, #16-VIII ZRK ‘On the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Safety Zone’ became a key regulatory act governing a legal framework on the management of the former test site area, its utilization procedure, the monitoring and rehabilitation measures. The adopted law allowed for the systemization of approaches to radiation safety assurance and shaping a sustainable legal mechanism to govern any activities in this territory.
As part of the implementation of the law provisions, the NNC RK specialists provide a scientific and methodological, expert support of the work including the analysis of the radiological situation, assessment of radiation risks and a scientific support of measures to remediate radioactively contaminated sites.
2023 onwards, within the scope of the state mission on the environmental monitoring in radioactively contaminated areas of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, the radiological situation has been estimated on the boundary of the radiation hazardous zone of the test site including the oversight of the level of the equivalent gamma dose rate, the content of radionuclides in surface and ground waters, air, soil and vegetation across the perimeter of an intended SNSZ.
Research is also ongoing to obtain information on the radiological state of areas adjacent to the STS that count as zones of extreme and elevated radiation risk (Sarzhal rural district, Dolon rural district, Karkaralinsk area). With a view to secure the natural environment and protect the public of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the efforts are taken to assess the impact of uranium mine development on the radioecological situation at the deposits themselves and the adjacent settlements.
Nuclear, seismic and infrasonic techniques are applied to estimate and mitigate climate changes. By the isotope hydrology technique, the inventory of water resources was estimated; by carbon dating, the age of undisturbed soils of forest ecosystems in Kazakhstan was defined and the climate changes that occurred over the period they existed were analyzed. In addition, the emission of СО2 by background regional soils was assessed and the impact of climate changes on the emission defined. Based upon seismic and infrasonic data, the frequency and spatial distribution of ice quakes were determined, as well as variations in their number over time indicating any climate changes over the previous decades.
Currently, the NNC RK’s area of expertise also involves other radiation hazardous sites located within the RK (derelict mines, tailing dumps, mining and chemical waste etc.).
Besides, the NNC RK professionals provide a radiation support, a radiation control, an individual health monitoring and take efforts to determine the elemental composition.