328 



CRS 



Congressional Research Service • The Library of Congress • Washington, D.C. 20540-7000 



Translation — Russian 



AN OVERVIEW OF RADIATION SAFETY PROBLEMS FOR THE POPULATION 

 ON THE TERRITORY OF THE YAKUTSKAYA-SAKHA S.S.R. 



[sic ~ formerly the Yakutskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, now known as Yakutia 

 or, in the native indigenous language, as the Republic of Sakha] 



It should be stated clearly and unequivocally that modern medicine is the primary 

 source for the dosage of radiation which human beings receive as a result of technology. The 

 share from only a single fluorographic examination a year amounts to 2/3 of the yearly 

 radiation load on humans. Superficially, the problem consists in the general, systematic 

 induced irradiation of the entire population over the course of recent decades, although in 

 accordance with radiation safety standards, and dozens of generations of ancestors who lived 

 with a low natural radiation background. 



1. Natural Sources of Radiation 



1.1. Natural Gamma-Radiation Background 



The main territory of the Republic is characterized by low values (up to 20 micro- 

 roentgens/hour) of natural gamma-radiation background. However, in specific regions, in aretts 

 cropping out onto the day surface of rock from the old crystalline foundation and igneous acid 

 rock, the natural gamma-radiation background is equal to 30-60 microroentgens/hour, reaching 

 values of 80-100 microroentgens/hour or more in rather extensive areas, comprising a total of 

 thousands of square kilometers (Southern Yakutia, the Olenekskiy Rayon [rayon = 

 administrative subdivision], Ust'-Yanskiy Rayon, and Eastern Yakutia). 



In 1991, compilation of a map of the natural background was begun, on a scale of 

 1:2,500,000. The cost of the work is 70,000 rubles, 20,000 rubles' worth has been executed, 

 and in 1992, the work must be completed. 



1.2. Outcrops onto the Surface of Radioactive Ores 



In prospecting for uranium deposits, more than 15,000 radiometric anomalies were 

 detected, and of these, more than 10,000 on the surface, including several hundred anomalies 

 and ore manifestations with an intensity of 200-500 to 1,500 microroentgens/hour. Basically, 

 these are local sites, but there are surface sites as far as the first few kilometers and extended 

 sites for dozens of kilometers in tectonic zones and strata of sedimentary rock. The 



