Use Of ¹⁵²EU As A Tracer For Identifying Fallout In The Altai Region From Nuclear Explosions At The Semipalatinsk Test Site: Would It Work At Present?

Abstract

A short study was performed in 1994 in connection with the problem reconstructing doses received by the population in the Altai region and adjoining provinces from radioactive fallout following nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) in 1949 - 1962. The task was to identify measured or estimated tracks of fallout from major nuclear explosions which had mostly contributed to the radioactive contamination in the region. According to the analysis reported in [1], two ground test explosions were responsible for 95% of the collective dose burden on the Altai population caused by fallout from the STS: No.1 (“Number 1”, 29.08.1949) and No.32 (07.08.1962) in the list of 48 nuclear test explosions, which were proved to contribute to radioactive contamination of the Altai territory [2]. The essence of the task was to distinguish a fairly small fraction of the long-lived tests’ debris at the background of total ¹³⁷Cs and Pu deposition formed from early 1960-s till 1990-s in the territory of the Altai region by global fallout. That background has been shadowing tracks of nuclear explosions in question.