Results of EPR Dosimetry for Population in the Vicinity of the Most Contaminating Radioactive Fallout Trace After the First Nuclear Test in the Semipalatinsk Test Site

TLDR

The villages of Dolon and Mostik lie along the central axis of the radioactive fallout from the most contaminating 1949 surface nuclear test at Semipalatinsk. The study applies electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of tooth enamel to determine individual radiation doses for residents of Dolon and Mostik. EPR spectroscopy of tooth enamel was employed to measure absorbed doses, with natural background subtracted to estimate excess exposure. Excess doses ranged up to 440 mGy in older Dolon residents, ≤120 mGy in younger Dolon residents, and ≤100 mGy in Mostik residents, with a single 1.25 Gy case, matching the 1949 fallout pattern except for that outlier.

Abstract

The method of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy for tooth enamel is applied to individual radiation dose determination to residents of two villages (Dolon and Mostik) in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. These villages are located near the central axis of the radioactive fallout trace of the most contaminating surface nuclear test conducted in 1949. It is found that excess doses obtained by subtraction of natural background dose from dose absorbed in enamel range up to 440 mGy to residents of Dolon, whose enamel was formed before 1949, and do not exceed 120 mGy to younger residents. To residents of Mostik, excess doses do not exceed 100 mGy regardless of age except for one resident with an extremely high dose of 1.25 Gy. These results are in agreement with the pattern of radioactive contamination of the territory after the nuclear test of 1949 except one case of extremely high dose, which should be additionally investigated.