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The timely identification of areas where man-made radionuclides migrate through water streams is highly important for the territory of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site since the aquatic environment is currently a source of secondary contamination of environment. This article presents research findings on radioactively contaminated Lake Kishkensor located at the Semipalatinsk Test Site territory. As a result of this research, a new locally contaminated spot was discovered in the vicinity of the "Balapan" test site. Lake Kishkensor was found to be contaminated with man-made 3 H and 90 Sr. The 3 H activity concentration in surface waters reached 430 kBq/L, and the concentration of 90 Sr reached 100 Bq/L. In the sediments, the 3 H activity concentration reached 700 kBq/kg, while that of 90 Sr and 239+240 Pu reached 310 Bq/kg and 250 Bq/kg, respectively. Ground water was found to be a source of surface water and sediment contamination. The monitoring results showed that the contamination level of the lake largely depended on the season and the inflow of contaminated ground water., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This paper presents research on the assessment of the radioecological state of plant cover surrounding two research reactor facilities located within the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) as examples of nuclear fuel cycle facilities (NFC). Source data on the concentrations of artificial radionuclides in the plant cover were obtained. Quantitative values for 137Cs, 241Am, and 239+240Pu activity concentrations were determined in plants across the perimeters of the facilities, indicating that these compounds may be present in the associated media from the perspective of accumulative bioindication. The values determined for artificial radionuclides in the 'soil‒plant' system around the researched NFC facilities were attributed to radioactive contamination of the STS territory., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Larionova et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This article presents research findings on 3H in abiotic environmental compartments, specifically, the 'water-soil-air' system. All of the research areas are located within the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS): the perimeter of the 'Degelen' site, the riverside zone of the Shagan river and the 'background' area-the southeastern part of the STS (SEP). As research progressed, numerical values of 3H and its species were revealed in various environmental compartments. The presence of 3H was registered not only in underground nuclear test locations but also in the 'background' area-SEP. Maximum 3H tritium concentrations in the water were detected at the 'Degelen' site (up to 57000±5000 Bq/kg) and the Shagan riv (up to 61500±6000 Bq/kg), in the air of the 'Degelen' site (up to 56±11 Bq/m3), in the soil of the 'Degelen' site (up to 5170±500 Bq/kg) and the Shagan riv (4100±400 Bq/kg) in the free water, at SEP (up to 1710±170 Bq/kg) in the organic constituent. Based upon all of the findings, 3H was found to be readily distributed in abiotic environmental compartments depending on certain conditions. Research suggests that water plays a key role in 3H migration processes in the natural system of interest. The second most but equally important constituent is soil and microorganisms of plant and animal origin living there. These assumptions are indirectly proven by research findings that show the HTO and HT air concentration dynamics depending on the sampling location., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Timonova et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)