Atyrau former nuclear testing site still a health hazard

The Azgir former nuclear testing area in the western Kazakh province of Atyrau, where two dozen nuclear tests were carried out during Soviet times, remains a health hazard for local people. "Nowadays there are some local spots of radioactive pollution on the soil on the technological sites of the testing area, where the radioactive background is considerably higher than a natural regional background," Zhenis Zhotbayev, the acting director-general of Kazakhstan's National Nuclear Centre, told IRIN from Kurchatov, a small town in eastern Kazakhstan at the centre of the former Soviet nuclear testing area near Semipalatinsk. He said in some places the level of cesium-137 in the soil in the range from 0 cm to 20 cm deep was more than 800 Bk/kg and up to 3,000 Bk/kg, adding that the radiation background on the territory of the former nuclear testing area and the settlements within a 50-km range was between 10 and 15 micro-sieverts per hour. Azgir testing area, or the Galit facility, is located on the territory of the Balkuduk collective farm, which is in Kurmangazi District of Atyrau Province in a vast depression 20 km in length and 15 km in width There are two villages in the vicinity of the testing area, Balkuduk and Suiunduk, with a total population of some 5,000, while the district centre is 250 km away from the area. Between 1966 and 1970, some 20 nuclear explosions of various magnitude were carried out on the 10 sites in the Azgir area at depths ranging from 165 metres to 1,500 metres with the aim of developing nuclear explosion technology and creating vast underground hollows - up to 1.2 million cubic metres. As for Azgir's impact on the health of local people, according to an expert commission of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection, the health conditions of the people in Azgir region are 2.5 times worse than the average in Atyrau Province in terms of morbidity and mortality, while the provincial indicators were two to three times worse than the average in the country. The level of tuberculosis morbidity among the local population is seven times higher than the average in Atyrau Province, while the figure for endocrine disorders is 19, ulcerous diseases 16, gastrointestinal diseases six and pneumonia 15 times higher; moreover, 95 percent of local children are suffering from anaemia. "There is still a socio-psychological stress among the local residents in the region resulting not only from the consequences of nuclear explosions but also from a lack of normal living conditions and medical care, unemployment and anxiety about the future of the younger generation," Zhotbayev said. Radiological pollution coupled with low living standards is cited as the root cause of the situation. Other contributory factors include regional dietary habits and poor drinking water. The water in the greater part of the former testing area falls short of sanitation control standards. In an effort to address the issue, the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the National Nuclear Centre has been conducting monitoring of the ecological situation in the area since 1995. The Institute has also carried out research and technical work with a view to cleaning and eliminating radioactive pollution spots on the sites, which are now fenced and thereby restrict unauthorised access. However, there are still problems to be tackled, including the regular radio ecological monitoring of the area, stability control of the underground hollows, rehabilitation of the affected soil, elimination of the remaining radioactive pollution spots, and medical and biological research on rehabilitation of the local population's health. Zhotbayev stressed the importance of identifying the radioactive pollution levels in underground water, this being the most potentially dangerous radiological factor affecting public health throughout the region. He observed that the international community and donor countries could help in solving outstanding problems in this context.