Radioactive contamination of southeast Abai oblast, Kazakhstan, from the Chinese nuclear weapons testing program at Lop Nor: an analytical review.

Abstract

Between 1949 and 1962 the Soviet Union performed atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS) in Kazakhstan, resulting in widespread contamination of the surrounding region with radioactive fallout. Settlements in the southeast Abai oblast of Kazakhstan, close to the border with China, are not thought to have received significant fallout from the SNTS. There is, however, evidence that the study area, including Makanchi, Urdzhar and Taskesken villages, was contaminated by atmospheric nuclear tests performed by China at the Lop Nor NTS between 1964 and 1980. We identified the most reliable data indicating contamination from the Lop Nor tests from archive documents. Prompt sampling of soil performed in the area revealed elevated levels of total beta activity in the days and weeks following the Lop Nor tests. The highest activities were recorded following the thermonuclear tests in June 1967 and June 1973. Tooth enamel dosimetry using electron paramagnetic resonance methods suggests residents of the study area have been exposed to excess doses of 50-60 mGy but provides no information on the source and timing of exposure. Currently, evidence of contamination of the study area from nuclear weapons testing at Lop Nor is based on limited radiation measurement data. Therefore, work will continue on the search for archival data on radiological and meteorological monitoring carried out in the study area at the time of the Lop Nor testing campaign.