Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology

The Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology (IRSE) was set up in 1993 on the premises of research subdivisions of military unit 52605 and the NNC RK’s radioecological subdivisions.

The Institute’s strategic focus areas are:

• drastic solutions to the problems of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site and the adjacent areas, as well as other nuclear test locations;
• scientific research in the field of radioecology;
• radiation control of workplaces, vehicles, equipment, individual health monitoring;
• development of biodosimetry techniques;
• creation and development of a monitoring system with a view to provide governmental bodies and the public with relevant information on the status of radiation hazardous sites in RK;
• carrying out activities to secure radiation hazardous sites in RK.

Essential outputs were obtained 2008 through 2021 during the comprehensive radioecological survey of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS).

A comprehensive radioecological survey of areas adjacent to the STS is currently underway including the assessment of radiation impact on the environment and the public, as well as a scientific rationale for, development and implementation of the activities on the normalization of the radiological situation and assurance of general radiation safety.

The creation of a system to monitor the environmental health at radiation hazardous sites is an equally important focus area at the Institute. The monitoring aims to oversee levels of the equivalent gamma dose rate, the content of man-made radionuclides in surface and ground waters, air, soil and vegetation for assessing the radiological situation on the boundary of radiation hazardous areas.

The Institute’s laboratories are accredited to determine activity concentrations of gamma-emitting man-made and naturally occurring, beta-emitting radionuclides, as well as gross alpha- and beta activities in various environmental compartments.

The institute is proactively cooperating with the republican and international institutions: the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International  Science and Technology Center (ISTC), NATO, research laboratories in the USA, Japan, RF and others.

Research findings are annually reported at the republican and international scientific and practical conferences and workshops on radioecology and radiobiology problems. The Institute hosts the International Conference ‘Semipalatinsk Test Site. Radiation legacy and non-proliferation problems’. Immediately upon the time the Institute’s activities began, over 900 scientific publications were published including in rating scientific editions.

In addition to scientific efforts, special training of professionals and the personnel plays a significant role in the Institute’s activities related to the utilization of atomic energy including professional advanced training in the field of radiation safety when using sources of ionizing radiation in two thematic lines: ‘Special training of the personnel who is in charge of radiation safety assurance. Radiation protection and safety’ and ‘Special training of the personnel responding to nuclear and radiological emergencies’.