Identification of tritium-contaminated areas using a tritium survey on the snow cover, the case of Semipalatinsk test site

The article presents research findings on the content of tritium in the snow cover of test locations ‘Balapan’ and ‘Sary-Uzen’ in the territory of the Semipalatinsk Test Site. Based upon results, a number of tritium-contaminated areas were revealed. At the ‘Balapan’ site, elevated tritium concentrations in the snow were revealed in the vicinity of the ‘Atomic lake’ close to the ‘Karazhyra’ deposit and at the location of Lake ‘Kishkensor’. At the ‘Sary-Uzen’ site, elevated tritium concentrations in the snow were discovered near borehole 101, at object ‘Lazurite’ and at an unnamed creek outflowing from the mountain range. Maximal of tritium activity concentration in the snow were 45 Bq/kg and 36 Bq/kg at the ‘Balapan’ and ‘Sary-Uzen’ sites, respectively. Background tritium concentrations in the snow cover of the STS territory were found to be 4.6–12 Bq/kg. Based upon research undertaken, local spots of a high content of tritium in the snow cover were revealed at the ‘Balapan’ and ‘Sary-Uzen’ test locations.•At warfare boreholes of the ‘Balapan’ site, the average content of tritium in the snow cover ranges from