Radionuclide contamination of underground water and soils near the epicentral zone of cratering explosion at the Semipalatinsk Test Site

Abstract

The investigation wells for a control of the underground water contamination were bored after the cratering explosions at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, now they are restored partially. The analysis of the retrospective information of the Institute of Global Climate & Ecology (Moscow, Russia) give a possibility to choose wells and terrains for the successful study of radionuclide migration with the underground water. The epicentral zone, the crater and the territory with radius 1,5 km around the explosion “1003" were investigated under the ISTC project K-810. Underground water and soil samples were taken at the two expeditions of 2003. The chemical extraction methods taking into account the water mineral composition, gamma-spectrum methods, methods of liquid scintillation spectrometry and methods of alfa-spectrometry were used. The modern radionuclide content (³H, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ^239+240Pu, ²⁴¹Am etc.) of the underground water is presented and compared with a radionuclide content of soils around crater. The retrospective information has been added by these modern data. The vertical radionuclide distrioin soils is presented.