Development of a method for studying 241Pu/241Am activity ratio in the soil of the main Semipalatinsk test site areas

The methodology for determination of ²⁴¹Pu in soils of the main test sites of the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) has been developed. The results of ²⁴¹Am and ²⁴¹Pu activity determination in soil samples sampled at the main testing sites of the STS are presented. ²⁴¹Pu/²⁴¹Am activity ratio is calculated. In most cases, on local sites, ²⁴¹Pu/²⁴¹Am activity ratio is in a rather narrow range, which makes it possible to estimate ²⁴¹Pu activity based on the results of ²⁴¹Am gamma-spectrometric analysis. The accuracy of ²⁴¹Pu activity estimation using this method will be about 50%, which is quite enough in most cases.

Ethical Responsibility for the Social Production of Tuberculosis

Approximately one in two hundred persons in the Marshall Islands have active tuberculosis (TB). We examine the historical antecedents of this situation in order to assign ethical responsibility for the present situation. Examining the antecedents in terms of Galtung's dialectic of personal versus structural violence, we can identify instances in the history of the Marshall Islands when individual subjects made decisions (personal violence) with large-scale ecologic, social, and health consequences. The roles of medical experimenters, military commanders, captains of the weapons industry in particular, and industrial capitalism in general (as the cause of global warming) are examined. In that, together with Lewontin, we also identify industrial capitalism as the cause of tuberculosis, we note that the distinction between personal versus structural violence is difficult to maintain. By identifying the cause of the tuberculosis in the Marshall Islands, we also identify what needs be done to treat and prevent it.

Mechanisms for surface contamination of soils and bottom sediments in the Shagan River zone within former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site

The Shagan River is the only surface watercourse within the former Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS). Research in the valley of the Shagan River was carried out to study the possible migration of artificial radionuclides with surface waters over considerable distances, with the possibility these radionuclides may have entered the Irtysh River. The investigations revealed that radioactive contamination of soil was primarily caused by the first underground nuclear test with soil outburst conducted at the "Balapan" site in Borehole 1004. The surface nuclear tests carried out at the "Experimental Field" site and global fallout made insignificant contributions to contamination. The most polluted is the area in the immediate vicinity of the "Atomic" Lake crater. Contamination at the site is spatial. The total area of contamination is limited to 10-12 km from the crater piles. The ratio of plutonium isotopes was useful to determine the source of soil contamination. There was virtual absence of artificial radionuclide migration with surface waters, and possible cross-border transfer of radionuclides with the waters of Shagan and Irtysh rivers was not confirmed.