The character of Lake Kishkensor contamination in the area of underground nuclear explosions at the Semipalatinsk Test Site territory
Aidarkhanova A. Timonova L. Aidarkhanov A. Monayenko V. Iskenov A. Subbotin S. Pronin S. Belykh N.
November 2024Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
2024#196Issue 11
The timely identification of areas where man-made radionuclides migrate through water streams is highly important for the territory of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site since the aquatic environment is currently a source of secondary contamination of environment. This article presents research findings on radioactively contaminated Lake Kishkensor located at the Semipalatinsk Test Site territory. As a result of this research, a new locally contaminated spot was discovered in the vicinity of the “Balapan” test site. Lake Kishkensor was found to be contaminated with man-made 3H and 90Sr. The 3H activity concentration in surface waters reached 430 kBq/L, and the concentration of 90Sr reached 100 Bq/L. In the sediments, the 3H activity concentration reached 700 kBq/kg, while that of 90Sr and 239+240Pu reached 310 Bq/kg and 250 Bq/kg, respectively. Ground water was found to be a source of surface water and sediment contamination. The monitoring results showed that the contamination level of the lake largely depended on the season and the inflow of contaminated ground water.
Cesium , Lake Kishkensor , Plutonium , Semipalatinsk Test Site , Strontium , Tritium
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Beibyt atom str. 2, Kurchatov, 180010, Kazakhstan
Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026