Natural radionuclides and toxic elements in the border areas of rivers flowing into Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan
- PDF / 1,257,715 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 54 Downloads / 227 Views
Natural radionuclides and toxic elements in the border areas of rivers flowing into Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan Vladimir P. Solodukhin1 · Svetlana G. Lennik1 · Gulinur M. Kabirova1 · Pavel Yu. Lobanov1 · Dmitriy A. Zheltov1 · Alexander N. Bychenko1 · Mikhail A. Levashov1 Received: 29 January 2020 / Accepted: 26 September 2020 / Published online: 10 October 2020 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2020
Abstract The paper reports on the study of the radiation situation and the degree of contamination with natural radionuclides and toxic elements of 11 transboundary rivers and the Big Chu Channel at the points of their inflow into Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan. The methods of radiometry, IGS, XRF, MS-ICP, OES-ICP, RChA were used. It was established that the radiation background in the examined areas is high, but does not pose a risk to human health. In the majority of the transboundary watercourses, the chemical toxicity of waters exceeds for 2–12 times the regulatory value set in the Republic of Kazakhstan for drinking water. Uranium contributes 37% to this indicator. Keywords Transboundary rivers · Radiation hazardous facilities · Natural radionuclides · Toxic elements
Introduction The following radiation hazardous facilities are located in Kyrgyzstan within the transboundary water system “Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan”: the polymetals and thorium deposit “Ak-Tyuz”, the uranium deposit “Kamyshanovskoye”, and the large uranium processing plant “Kara-Balta”. Several previous advanced studies demonstrated that the tailings of the plants “Ak-Tyuz” and “Kara-Balta” contain considerable amounts of natural radionuclides (NR) and toxic elements (TE) [1–3]. Also, intensive agricultural activity is ongoing in this region. The local irrigation system for cultivation of vegetables and melons includes many densely interconnected irrigation canals fed by water from local rivers. This situation can lead to possible contamination with NRs and TEs of the entire irrigation system and transfer of these contaminants to Kazakhstan via the transboundary rivers. The technical state of radiation-hazardous facilities in Kyrgyzstan, the consequences of the events there, as well as individual results of the study of the radiation and environmental situation in their vicinity indicate that a critical situation of acute environmental risk has developed in the
border area of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz sector [1–7]. There are no warnings or restrictions on water use set for the residents of this transboundary sector. This situation causes a concern for the local population, as well as the high concern of the scientific community and the international organizations (UNEP, UNDP, OSCE, NATO) collaborating in the framework of the "Environment and Safety" initiative [8]. Considering the current circumstances, we set up the task to perform the radiation surveying and to study the radionuclide and elemental composition of the environmental objects at the territory of Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan. This work was done for the transboundary rivers Kichi-Kemin
Data Loading...
