329 



CRS-2 



radioactivity is linked not only with ores of uranium and thorium proper, but it frequently 

 accompanies rare-earth, rare-metal, apatite and other tjrpes of mineralization. In any case, not 

 only should radioactivity be taken into account, but also the outcrops onto the surface of 

 sli^tly allochthonous and highly toxic uranium. It is necessary to emphasize that although 

 we have information about the location and characteristics of these sites, from the viewpoint 

 of ecology, the issue has not been studied (in specific cases ~ there are no fish in the river, 

 animals try to go around the side, and the river, in the headwaters of which the uranium ore 

 manifestation is found, can be called Oink-Well). 



1.3. Radon 



According to an analysis by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of 

 Atomic Radiation, radon, together with its daughter products of radioactive decay, is 

 resp>onsible for approximately 3/4 of the annual individual effective dose of radiation exposure 

 received by the population fi'om earth sources of radiation. In the Republic, measurements of 

 radon concentrations in buildings had previously not been conducted. 



The results of measurements performed at the Zarechnyy Settlement of the Aldanskiy 

 Rayon in 1991 in residential buildings and social centers showed values exceeding the tolerable 

 limits by a factor or more. This is virtually the only information on radon so far. 



The problem consists in the lack of a national organization (the manufacture of sensors 

 is planned in 1992, at a cost of 8,000-10,(X)0 rubles, and 5-10 devices are necessary). 



1.4. Building Materials 



The wide-spread use of granite gravel by the construction industry in Southern Yakutia 

 probably already led to the presence of high levels of radioactivity in residential and industrial 

 buildings. Even though many building-materials firms, at least in Central Yakutia, have been 

 conducting in recent years a radiation-hygienic analysis of raw materials as well as finished 

 products, the problem requires a radical solution: setting up a specialized laboratory in the 

 Republic. 



2. Global Radioactivity Fallout 



At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, throughout all the territory of 

 Yakutia, during radiometric prospecting for uranium by geophysicists, anomalies of induced 

 radioactivity were recorded. Especially hi^ values exceeding 1,000 microroentgens/hour were 

 distinguished in the northern regions along the coast. Surface contamination had occurred 

 over vast territories. In subsequent years and up to the present time, organizations in the 

 Republic have not specially studied this issue. Even though the basic radioactivity was caused 

 by short-lived radionuclides, the degree of contamination of the northern pasturelands by 

 8trontium-90 find cesium-137 is not currently under study. 



