A summary of evidence on radiation exposures received near to the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons test site in Kazakhstan

Comparison of external dose estimates using different retrospective dosimetry methods in the settlements located near Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, Republic of Kazakhstan

For correct assessment of health risks after low-dose irradiation, calculation of radiation exposure estimates is crucial. To verify the calculated absorbed doses, instrumental methods of retrospective dosimetry are used. We compared calculated and instrumental-based estimates of external absorbed doses in the residents of Dolon, Mostik and Cheremushki villages, Kazakhstan, affected by the first nuclear weapon test performed at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) on August 29, 1949. The 'instrumental' doses were retrospectively estimated using the Luminescence Retrospective Dosimetry (LRD) and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) methods. Correlation between the calculated individual cumulative external absorbed whole-body doses based on typical input data and ESR-based individual doses in the same people was strong (r = 0.782). It was even stronger between the calculated doses based on individual questionnaires' input data and the ESR-based doses (r = 0.940). Application of the LRD method is useful for validation of the calculated settlement-average cumulated external absorbed dose to air. Reconstruction of external exposure can be supplemented with the data from later measurements of soil contamination with long-lived radionuclides, such as, 137Cs. Our results show the reliability of the calculational method used for the retrospective assessment of individual external doses.

Background Level of Unstable Chromosome Aberrations in the Kazakhstan Population: A Human Biomonitoring Study

Kazakhstan is known as a country with a complex radioecological situation resulting from different sources such as a natural radiation background, extensive activities of the industrial system of the former Soviet Union and a well-known testing of nuclear power weapons occurred in the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) area. The present study focuses on the assessment of the background of dicentric chromosomes in Kazakhstan’s population, which is the starting point in the dose assessment of irradiated people, since the baseline level of spontaneous dicentrics can vary significantly in different populations. In this context, aiming to determine the background frequency of chromosome aberrations in the population of Kazakhstan, considering the heterogeneity of natural radiation background levels of its large territory, a selection of 40 control subjects living in four cities of North, South, West and East Kazakhstan was performed. The cytogenetic study on the selected groups showed fairly low background frequency values of chromosome aberrations (0.84 ± 0.83 per 1000 cells), comparable with other data in the literature on general populations, reporting background frequency values between 0.54 and 2.99 per 1000 cells. The obtained results should be taken into account when constructing the dose–effect calibration curve used in cytogenetic biodosimetry, as a “zero” dose point, which will reduce the uncertainty in quantifying the individual absorbed dose in emergency radiological situations.

Eurados review of retrospective dosimetry techniques for internal exposures to ionising radiation and their applications

This work presents an overview of the applications of retrospective dosimetry techniques in case of incorporation of radionuclides. The fact that internal exposures are characterized by a spatially inhomogeneous irradiation of the body, which is potentially prolonged over large periods and variable over time, is particularly problematic for biological and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry methods when compared with external exposures. The paper gives initially specific information about internal dosimetry methods, the most common cytogenetic techniques used in biological dosimetry and EPR dosimetry applied to tooth enamel. Based on real-case scenarios, dose estimates obtained from bioassay data as well as with biological and/or EPR dosimetry are compared and critically discussed. In most of the scenarios presented, concomitant external exposures were responsible for the greater portion of the received dose. As no assay is available which can discriminate between radiation of different types and different LETs on the basis of the type of damage induced, it is not possible to infer from these studies specific conclusions valid for incorporated radionuclides alone. The biological dosimetry assays and EPR techniques proved to be most applicable in cases when the radionuclides are almost homogeneously distributed in the body. No compelling evidence was obtained in other cases of extremely inhomogeneous distribution. Retrospective dosimetry needs to be optimized and further developed in order to be able to deal with real exposure cases, where a mixture of both external and internal exposures will be encountered most of the times.

Cytogenetic abnormalities of the descendants of permanent residents of heavily contaminated East Kazakhstan

More than 400 nuclear explosion tests were conducted at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) and significant radioactive substances were released. The long-term consequences of the activities at the SNTS and the appearance of any hereditary effects remain insufficiently studied about 25 years after the test site was closed. The population living in villages near the SNTS are considered to have been heavily exposed to external and internal radiation. This study aims to perform an assessment and comprehensive cytogenetic analysis of the inhabitants living near the SNTS, and their first-(F1) and second-(F2) generation children. Residents of the East Kazakhstan region living in the area covered by the former SNTS were included in the study. To evaluate the hereditary effects of nuclear testing, comprehensive chromosome analyses were performed in lymphocytes using conventional Giemsa and fluorescent in situ hybridization methods in 115 F1 and F2 descendants in the villages of Dolon and Sarzhal, which were heavily contaminated. The parents of the subjects had permanently lived in the villages. A higher number of stable-type chromosome aberrations such as translocations was found in these residents than in 80 residents of the control area, Kokpecty, which indicates the possibility that radiation had biological effects on the exposed subjects.

The health effects of radon and uranium on the population of Kazakhstan

The radioactive contamination is a significant factor affecting the environment and human health. Radon and its decay products are the major contributors to human exposure from natural radiation sources. World Health Organization has identified the chronic residential exposure to radon and its decay products as the second cause of lung cancer after tobacco consumption and also as the main risk-factor in never smokers. The high levels of radon are observed in the North and East areas of Kazakhstan because of the natural radiation sources and the long-term and large-scale mining of uranium. The genotoxic effects of radon on population of Kazakhstan are poorly understood, in spite of the fact that many regions of the country contain the high levels of radon. Studies elucidating potential health risk among population exposed to radon and genotoxic effect of radon in Kazakhstan are very limited or they have never been addressed in some areas. In this review, we are presenting available data on the residential radon exposure of humans in uranium mining and milling areas in the North and East areas of Kazakhstan.

Studies of Health Effects from Nuclear Testing near the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, Kazakhstan

The nuclear bomb testing conducted at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan is of great importance for today's radiation protection research, particularly in the area of low dose exposures. This type of radiation is of particular interest due to the lack of research in this field and how it impacts population health. In order to understand the possible health effects of nuclear bomb testing, it is important to determine what studies have been conducted on the effects of low dose exposure and dosimetry, and evaluate new epidemiologic data and biological material collected from populations living in proximity to the test site. With time, new epidemiological data has been made available, and it is possible that these data may be linked to biological samples. Next to linking existing and newly available data to examine health effects, the existing dosimetry system needs to be expanded and further developed to include residential areas, which have not yet been taken into account. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of previous studies evaluating the health effects of nuclear testing, including some information on dosimetry efforts, and pointing out directions for future epidemiologic studies.

Accounting for shared and unshared dosimetric uncertainties in the dose response for ultrasound-detected thyroid nodules after exposure to radioactive fallout

Dosimetic uncertainties, particularly those that are shared among subgroups of a study population, can bias, distort or reduce the slope or significance of a dose response. Exposure estimates in studies of health risks from environmental radiation exposures are generally highly uncertain and thus, susceptible to these methodological limitations. An analysis was published in 2008 concerning radiation-related thyroid nodule prevalence in a study population of 2,994 villagers under the age of 21 years old between August 1949 and September 1962 and who lived downwind from the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan. This dose-response analysis identified a statistically significant association between thyroid nodule prevalence and reconstructed doses of fallout-related internal and external radiation to the thyroid gland; however, the effects of dosimetric uncertainty were not evaluated since the doses were simple point "best estimates". In this work, we revised the 2008 study by a comprehensive treatment of dosimetric uncertainties. Our present analysis improves upon the previous study, specifically by accounting for shared and unshared uncertainties in dose estimation and risk analysis, and differs from the 2008 analysis in the following ways: 1. The study population size was reduced from 2,994 to 2,376 subjects, removing 618 persons with uncertain residence histories; 2. Simulation of multiple population dose sets (vectors) was performed using a two-dimensional Monte Carlo dose estimation method; and 3. A Bayesian model averaging approach was employed for evaluating the dose response, explicitly accounting for large and complex uncertainty in dose estimation. The results were compared against conventional regression techniques. The Bayesian approach utilizes 5,000 independent realizations of population dose vectors, each of which corresponds to a set of conditional individual median internal and external doses for the 2,376 subjects. These 5,000 population dose vectors reflect uncertainties in dosimetric parameters, partly shared and partly independent, among individual members of the study population. Risk estimates for thyroid nodules from internal irradiation were higher than those published in 2008, which results, to the best of our knowledge, from explicitly accounting for dose uncertainty. In contrast to earlier findings, the use of Bayesian methods led to the conclusion that the biological effectiveness for internal and external dose was similar. Estimates of excess relative risk per unit dose (ERR/Gy) for males (177 thyroid nodule cases) were almost 30 times those for females (571 cases) and were similar to those reported for thyroid cancers related to childhood exposures to external and internal sources in other studies. For confirmed cases of papillary thyroid cancers (3 in males, 18 in females), the ERR/Gy was also comparable to risk estimates from other studies, but not significantly different from zero. These findings represent the first reported dose response for a radiation epidemiologic study considering all known sources of shared and unshared errors in dose estimation and using a Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method for analysis of the dose response.

Estimation of radioactive contamination of soils from the "Balapan" and the "Experimental field" technical areas of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site

In spite of the long history of the research, radioactive contamination of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS) in the Republic of Kazakhstan has not been adequately characterized. Our cartographic investigation has demonstrated highly variable radioactive contamination of the SNTS. The Cs-137, Sr-90, Eu-152, Eu-154, Co-60, and Am-241 activity concentrations in soil samples from the "Balapan" site were 42.6-17646, 96-18250, 1.05-11222, 0.6-4865, 0.23-4893, and 1.2-1037 Bq kg(-1), correspondingly. Cs-137 and Sr-90 activity concentrations in soil samples from the "Experimental field" site were varied from 87 up to 400 and from 94 up to 1000 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Activity concentrations of Co-60, Eu-152, and Eu-154 were lower than the minimum detectable activity of the method used. Concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides (K-40, Ra-226, U-238, and Th-232) in the majority of soil samples from the "Balapan" and the "Experimental field" sites did not exceed typical for surrounding of the SNTS areas levels. Estimation of risks associated with radioactive contamination based on the IAEA clearance levels for a number of key radionuclides in solid materials shows that soils sampled from the "Balapan" and the "Experimental field" sites might be considered as radioactive wastes. Decrease in specific activity of soil from the sites studied up to safety levels due to Co-60, Cs-137, Sr-90, Eu-152, Eu-154 radioactive decay and Am-241 accumulation-decay will occur not earlier than 100 years. In contrast, soils from the "Experimental field" and the "Balapan" sites (except 0.5-2.5 km distance from the "Chagan" explosion point) cannot be regarded as the radioactive wastes according safety norms valid in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Gamma-ray thermoluminescence measurements: a record of fallout deposition in Hiroshima?

In certain Hiroshima neighborhoods, radiation measurements using thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) exceed what can be explained by the initial gamma-ray doses and uncertainties from the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02). This problem was not previously recognized as being isolated to certain parts of that city. The ratio between TLD measurements and DS02 dose calculations for gamma rays appear to grow larger than unity up to more than three with increasing ground range, but closer examination shows the excess TLD dose (0.1, 0.2, or possibly up to 0.8 Gray) is correlated with certain neighborhoods and could be due to radioactive fallout. At Nagasaki, the TLD measurements do not show this same excess, probably because there were no TLD measurements taken more than 800 m downwind (eastward) from the Nagasaki hypocenter, so that any small excess TLD dose was masked by larger initial gamma-ray doses of 25-80 Gray in the few downwind samples. The DS02 Report had noted many measurements lower than the DS02 calculation for several Nagasaki TLD samples, independent of ground range. This was explained as being the result of previously unaccounted urban shielding which was observed from Nagasaki pre-bomb aerial photos. However, the Hiroshima excess TLD dose issue was not resolved. If the excess TLD doses at Hiroshima are an indication of fallout, it may be possible to use additional TLD studies to make better estimates of the locations and radiation doses to survivors from the fallout after the bombings at both cities.

Effects of chronic exposure in populations of Koeleria gracilis Pers. from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, Kazakhstan

Morphological and cytogenetic abnormalities were examined in crested hairgrass (Koeleria gracilis Pers.) populations inhabiting the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (STS), Kazakhstan. Sampling of biological material and soil was carried out during 3 years (2005-2007) at 4 sites within the STS. Activity concentrations of 10 radionuclides and 8 heavy metals content in soils were measured. Doses absorbed by plants were estimated and varied, depending on the plot, from 4 up to 265 mGy/y. The frequency of cytogenetic alterations in apical meristem of germinated seeds from the highly contaminated plot significantly exceeded the level observed at other plots with lower levels of radioactive contamination during all three years of the study. A significant excess of chromosome aberrations, typical for radiation exposure, as well as a dependence of the frequency of these types of mutations on dose absorbed by plants were revealed. The results indicate the role radioactive contamination plays in the occurrence of cytogenetic effects. However, no radiation-dependent morphological alterations were detected in the progeny of the exposed populations. Given that the crested hairgrass populations have occupied the radioactively contaminated plots for some 50 years, adaptation to the radiation stress was not evident. The findings obtained were in agreement with the benchmark values proposed in the FASSET and ERICA projects to restrict radiation impacts on biota.

EPR dosimetry with tooth enamel: A review

When tooth enamel is exposed to ionizing radiation, radicals are formed, which can be detected using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. EPR dosimetry using tooth enamel is based on the (presumed) correlation between the intensity or amplitude of some of the radiation-induced signals with the dose absorbed in the enamel. In the present paper a critical review is given of this widely applied dosimetric method. The first part of the paper is fairly fundamental and deals with the main properties of tooth enamel and some of its model systems (e.g., synthetic apatites). Considerable attention is also paid to the numerous radiation-induced and native EPR signals and the radicals responsible for them. The relevant methods for EPR detection, identification and spectrum analyzing are reviewed from a general point of view. Finally, the needs for solid-state modelling and studies of the linearity of the dose response are investigated. The second part is devoted to the practical implementation of EPR dosimetry using enamel. It concerns specific problems of preparation of samples, their irradiation and spectrum acquisition. It also describes how the dosimetric signal intensity and dose can be retrieved from the EPR spectra. Special attention is paid to the energy dependence of the EPR response and to sources of uncertainties. Results of and problems encountered in international intercomparisons and epidemiological studies are also dealt with. In the final section the future of EPR dosimetry with tooth enamel is analyzed.

Twinning in the offspring of parents with chronic radiation exposure from nuclear testing in Kazakhstan

The population of the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan was chronically exposed to radioactive fallout from above-ground nuclear tests conducted during 1949-1956 by the Soviet Union. We investigated the effect of radiation exposure and other factors on risks of twinning overall and of same- and different-sex twinning and hence estimated dizygotic and monozygotic twinning rates in 11,605 deliveries around Semipalatinsk, 141 of which were twin, to 3992 mothers exposed to fallout during 1949-1956. Overall, the same-sex twinning rate was 7.85 [95% confidence interval (CI): 6.24, 9.47] per 1000 and the opposite-sex twinning rate was 4.45 (95% CI: 3.23, 5.67). Twinning rates did not differ significantly between radiation exposure categories, parental age at main radiation exposure, or year of birth. Different-sex, but not same-sex, twinning increased with maternal age (P(trend) = 0.04) but not with other demographic factors and was increased soon after radiation exposure [OR = 4.08 (95% CI: 1.11, 15.07)] for births occurring within 5 years compared with more than 20 years after exposure; this effect was similar in villages with low and high radiation exposure, however, so interpretation is uncertain.

Temporal trends in childhood leukaemia incidence following exposure to radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing

Notably raised rates of childhood leukaemia incidence have been found near some nuclear installations, in particular Sellafield and Dounreay in the United Kingdom, but risk assessments have concluded that the radiation doses estimated to have been received by children or in utero as a result of operations at these installations are much too small to account for the reported increases in incidence. This has led to speculation that the risk of childhood leukaemia arising from internal exposure to radiation following the intake of radioactive material released from nuclear facilities has been substantially underestimated. The radionuclides discharged from many nuclear installations are similar to those released into the global environment by atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, which was at its height in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Measurements of anthropogenic radionuclides in members of the general public resident in the vicinity of Sellafield and Dounreay have found levels that do not differ greatly from those in persons living remote from nuclear installations that are due to ubiquitous exposure to the radioactive debris of nuclear weapons testing. Therefore, if the leukaemia risk to children resulting from deposition within the body of radioactive material discharged from nuclear facilities has been grossly underestimated, then a pronounced excess of childhood leukaemia would have been expected as a consequence of the short period of intense atmospheric weapons testing. We have examined childhood leukaemia incidence in 11 large-scale cancer registries in three continents for which data were available at least as early as 1962. We found no evidence of a wave of excess cases corresponding to the peak of radioactive fallout from atmospheric weapons testing. The absence of a discernible increase in the incidence of childhood leukaemia following the period of maximum exposure to the radioactive debris of this testing weighs heavily against the suggestion that conventional methods are seriously in error when assessing the risk of childhood leukaemia from exposure to man-made radionuclides released from nuclear installations.

Monte Carlo-based calculation of imaging plate response to (90)Sr in teeth: experimental validation of the required correction on sample thickness

Recently, a numerical method was proposed to correct the imaging plate (IP) response to (90)Sr concentration in tooth samples, depending on the sample thickness. This is important to quantify any (90)Sr concentration in teeth, which in turn is necessary to determine any (90)Sr incorporation of a person retrospectively. Although the final goal will be to evaluate the (inhomogeneous) spatial distribution of (90)Sr inside tooth samples precisely, the present study was restricted -- as a first step -- to the evaluation of (90)Sr in teeth assuming a uniform (90)Sr distribution. A numerical method proposed earlier was validated experimentally in the present study by measuring the IP response to standard sources of various thicknesses and (90)Sr concentrations. For comparison, the energy deposition of the beta-rays emitted by (90)Sr in the IP -- which is considered to be proportional to the IP luminescence signal -- was calculated for the various sample thicknesses involved, by means of the MCNP-4C code. As a result, the measured IP response could be reproduced by the calculations within the uncertainties, depending on the thickness of the standard sources. Thus, the validity of the proposed numerical method to correct the IP response for sample thickness has successfully been demonstrated.

Considerations regarding the implementation of EPR dosimetry for the population in the vicinity of Semipalatinsk nuclear test site based on experience from other radiation accidents

General aspects of applying the method of retrospective dose estimation by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of human tooth enamel (EPR dosimetry) to the population residing in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site are analyzed and summarized. The analysis is based on the results obtained during 20 years of investigations conducted in the Medical Radiological Research Center regarding the development and practical application of this method for wide-scale dosimetrical investigation of populations exposed to radiation after the Chernobyl accident and other radiation accidents.

Retrospective dose assessment for the population living in areas of local fallout from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site Part I: External exposure

A short analysis of all 111 atmospheric events conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) in 1949-1962 with regard to significant off-site exposure (more than 5 mSv of the effective dose during the first year after the explosion) has been made. The analytical method used to assess external exposure to the residents living in settlements near the STS is described. This method makes use of the archival data on the radiological conditions, including the measurements of exposure rate. Special attention was given to the residents of Dolon and Kanonerka villages exposed mainly as a result of the first test, detonated on August 29, 1949. For the residents of those settlements born in 1935, the dose estimates calculated according to the analytical method, are compared to those derived from the thermoluminescence measurements in bricks and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements in teeth. The methods described in this paper were used for external dose assessment for the cohort members at an initial stage of an ongoing epidemiological study conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Recently revised methods and estimates of external exposure for that cohort are given in another paper (Simon et al.) in this conference.

Analysis of current assessments and perspectives of ESR tooth dosimetry for radiation dose reconstruction of the population residing near the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site

Between 1949 and 1989 the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS), an area of 19,000 square km in northeastern Kazakhstan, was the location of over 400 nuclear test explosions with a total explosive energy of 6.6 Mt TNT (trinitrotoluene or trotyl) equivalent. It is estimated that the bulk of the radiation exposure to the population resulted from three tests, conducted in 1949, 1951, and 1953 although estimations of radiation doses received by the local population have varied significantly. Analysis of the published ESR dose reconstruction results for residents of the villages near the SNTS show that they do not correlate well with other methods of dose assessment (e.g. model dose calculation and thermo luminescence dosimetry (TLD) in bricks). The most significant difference in dose estimations was found for the population of Dolon, which was exposed as result of the first Soviet nuclear test in 1949. Published results of ESR measurements in tooth enamel are considerably lower than other dose estimations. Detailed analysis of these results is provided and a possible explanation for this discrepancy and ways to eliminate it are suggested.

Intercomparison of luminescence measurements of bricks from Dolon' village: experimental methodology and results of European Study Group

Thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques were applied to quartz grains extracted from various depths in bricks taken from buildings in the village of Dolon', Kazakhstan, to determine the cumulative absorbed dose, DT. The measurements were performed in four laboratories (EU supported Measurement Group). The results obtained using TL and OSL are compared and discussed with reference to known sources of experimental uncertainty and relevant luminescence characteristics that may affect the evaluation of the absorbed dose. The external nature of the irradiation due to gamma rays from artificial radionuclides is verified by the measurement of depth-dose profiles, and these are compared with those obtained in previous studies for bricks from the same region. To produce these profiles, the cumulative dose due to natural background radiation, DBG, was assessed, particularly based on the concentrations of radionuclides of lithogenic origin within the bricks and the surrounding environment. The consistency of these estimates of DBG was assessed using depth-dose data and absorbed dose determinations for bricks collected from shielded locations. The values of cumulative absorbed dose since the onset of fallout, DX, were calculated as the difference between the values of total cumulative dose in bricks since its manufacture, DT, and values of DBG. Furthermore, estimations of the cumulative absorbed doses in air in the reference location near the sampled buildings, RLDX, were obtained using corresponding conversion factors, CRL, estimated on the basis of previous work. In addition to results for samples distributed for the International Intercomparison, reference is made to relevant results from samples that were collected in 1999 from Dolon' village and studied as part of EU-supported research.

Study on influence of X-ray baggage scan on ESR dosimetry for SNTS using human tooth enamel

The influence of X-ray baggage scanning on electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry studies around the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) has been examined at Incheon Airport in Korea, which is a transfer point of the routes from Kazakhstan to Japan. Utilized dosimeters are Japanese human tooth enamel for ESR and glass dosimeters. The difference between the estimated doses with the X-ray scan and those without it is below the evaluation errors for both ESR and the glass dosimeters. For glass dosimeters, the dose from the X-ray scan is estimated to be lower than the detection limit for the utilized glass dosimeters of ten microGy. This supports the absence of significant difference for the ESR results, which have an error in the order of ten mGy. Since ESR dosimetry for SNTS usually has similar errors, the dose by the X-ray scan in this study is concluded to be negligible in ESR dosimetry using tooth enamel from residents near SNTS.

Width and center-axis location of the radioactive plume that passed over Dolon and nearby villages on the occasion of the first USSR A-bomb test in 1949

In relation to the efforts to reconstruct the radiation dose in Dolon village, which was affected by the first USSR atomic bomb test in 1949 at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the width and the center-axis location of the radioactive plume were investigated based on the soil contamination data around Dolon and the nearby villages. Assuming that the radioactive plume passed over along a straight line from the ground zero point to this area, the spatial distributions of soil contamination were plotted as a function of the perpendicular distance from the supposed center-axis of the plume. In total 83 and 52 soil contamination data were available for 137Cs and 239,240Pu, respectively. The plotted distribution formed a peak-like shape both for 137Cs and 239,240Pu. A Gaussian function drawn so as to envelop the points plotted for 239,240Pu indicated that the central part of the radioactive plume passed over the residential area of Dolon with a sigma value of 1.5 km. Additional soil contamination data around Dolon and other villages are necessary for more detailed discussion.

Radiation exposure due to local fallout from Soviet atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in Kazakhstan: solid cancer mortality in the Semipalatinsk historical cohort, 1960-1999

Little information is available on the health effects of exposures to fallout from Soviet nuclear weapons testing and on the combined external and internal environmental exposures that have resulted from these tests. This paper reports the first analysis of the Semipalatinsk historical cohort exposed in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, Kazakhstan. The cohort study, which includes 19,545 inhabitants of exposed and comparison villages of the Semipalatinsk region, was set up in the 1960s and comprises 582,750 person-years of follow-up between 1960 and 1999. Cumulative effective radiation dose estimates in this cohort range from 20 mSv to approximately 4 Sv. Rates of mortality and cancer mortality in the exposed group substantially exceeded those of the comparison group. Dose-response analyses within the exposed group confirmed a significant trend with dose for all solid cancers (P < 0.0001) and for digestive and respiratory cancers (P = 0.0255 and P < 0.0001), whereas no consistent dose-response trend was found for all causes of death (P = 0.4296). Regarding specific cancer sites, a significant trend with dose was observed for lung cancer (P = 0.0001), stomach cancer (P = 0.0050), and female breast cancer (P = 0.0040) as well as for esophagus cancer in women (P = 0.0030). The excess relative risk per sievert for all solid cancers combined was 1.77 (1.35; 2.27) based on the total cohort data, yet a selection bias regarding the comparison group could not be entirely ruled out. The excess relative risk per sievert based on the cohort's exposed group was 0.81 (0.46; 1.33) for all solid cancers combined and thus still exceeds current risk estimates from the Life Span Study. Future epidemiological assessments based on this cohort will benefit from extension of follow-up and ongoing validation of dosimetric data.

The application of retrospective luminescence dosimetry in areas affected by fallout from the semipalatinsk nuclear test site: an evaluation of potential

Luminescence retrospective dosimetry techniques have been applied with ceramic bricks to determine the cumulative external gamma dose due to fallout, primarily from the 1949 test, in populated regions lying NE of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Altai, Russia, and the Semipalatinsk region, Kazakhstan. As part of a pilot study, nine settlements were examined, three within the regions of highest predicted dose (Dolon in Kazakshstan; Laptev Log and Leshoz Topolinskiy in Russia) and the remainder of lower predicted dose (Akkol, Bolshaya Vladimrovka, Kanonerka, and Izvestka in Kazakshstan; Rubtsovsk and Kuria in Russia) within the lateral regions of the fallout trace due to the 1949 test. The settlement of Kainar, mainly affected by the 24 September 1951 nuclear test, was also examined. The bricks from this region were found to be generally suitable for use with the luminescence method. Estimates of cumulative absorbed dose in air due to fallout for Dolon and Kanonerka in Kazakshstan and Leshoz Topolinskiy were 475 +/- 110 mGy, 240 +/- 60 mGy, and 230 +/- 70 mGy, respectively. The result obtained in Dolon village is in agreement with published calculated estimates of dose normalized to Cs concentration in soil. At all the other locations (except Kainar) the experimental values of cumulative absorbed dose obtained indicated no significant dose due to fallout that could be detected within a margin of about 25 mGy. The results demonstrate the potential suitability of the luminescence method to map variations in cumulative dose within the relatively narrow corridor of fallout distribution from the 1949 test. Such work is needed to provide the basis for accurate dose reconstruction in settlements since the predominance of short-lived radionuclides in the fallout and a high degree of heterogeneity in the distribution of fallout are problematic for the application of conventional dosimetry techniques.

Glycophorin A somatic cell mutations in a population living in the proximity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site

The glycophorin A (GPA) somatic mutation assay was performed to evaluate the magnitude of exposure to ionizing radiation among the human population living in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. All together, 113 blood samples were analyzed from three generations of people living in villages that were under the trail of the radioactive cloud from the first Soviet surface nuclear test performed in August 1949 and from later tests. The oldest generation (P0) lived in the area at the time of testing, whereas the younger generations (F1, F2) were exposed to smaller doses from the residual fallout and later tests. The GPA assay did not reveal significant differences in the variant cell frequencies for all subjects selected from the Semipalatinsk area compared with 74 matched controls living in a noncontaminated area. However, a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the mean allele-loss ON variant frequency was observed among the exposed P0 generation (12 x 10(-6)) in comparison to controls (7 x 10(-6)). Considering the sensitivity of the GPA assay, the results suggest that the mean dose to the P0 generation of the affected villages was relatively low, a finding which is in accordance to the conclusions obtained from other biological assays performed on the same population.