The use of TLD-700H dosemeters in the assessment of external doses at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

The joint projects performed since 1995 by the Jülich Research Centre in co-operation with the Kazakh National Nuclear Centre in the area of the former nuclear test site near Semipalatinsk, in eastern Kazakhstan, have assessed the current dose rate of the population at and around the test site, as well as determining retrospectively the dose rate of persons affected by the atmospheric tests. Measurements of the population by personal dosemeters depend on reliably wearing these dosemeters over prolonged periods of time, and of a sufficient dosemeter return. In the past, such measurements have been particularly successful whenever short wearing times were possible. This requires high sensitivity of the dosemeters. The suitability of the highly sensitive TLD material of the BICRON TLD 700H type for such personal dosimetry measurements was investigated. It was tested in practical field application at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in September 2000. Initial results are available from individual doses received by a group of geologists and a group of herdsmen at the test site. For the first time, the individual dose was measured directly in these population groups. Detection limits below 1 microSv permit informative measurements for wearing times of less than two weeks. Most individual doses did not arise significantly out of local fluctuations of natural background. A conservative assessment from the aspect of practical health physics yielded a mean personal dose of 0.55 microSv per day for the herdsmen, whereas the geologists received a mean personal dose of 0.45 microSv per day. For an annual exposure period of typically, about three months, the radiation dose received by the persons investigated, in addition to the natural radiation exposure, is thus well below the international limit value of 1 mSv x a(-1) for the population dose.

Cytogenetic biomonitoring carried out in a village (Dolon) adjacent to the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapon test site.

The Semipalatinsk region (Kazakhstan Republic) has been affected by extensive radioactive contamination due to more than 450 nuclear tests of which almost 100 were exploded in the atmosphere. The present results refer to cytogenetic assessments in a study cohort of the population of Dolon, a settlement located on the NE boundary of the nuclear weapon test site, which was exposed to elevated doses of ionising radiation primarily due to the first Soviet nuclear test in 1949. Conventional cytogenetic analyses were carried out on 21 blood samples from individuals (more than 50 years old) living in Dolon since the very beginning of nuclear testing. A matched control group included 20 individuals living in non-contaminated areas. Higher frequencies of chromosome aberrations were found in the Dolon cohort compared to the control group, even though they remain within the range of the background levels reported for large normal human population studies on elderly individuals.