Operation Groundhog

Operation Groundhog was reported a joint US-Kazakh-Russian program to secure radioactive residues of Soviet-era nuclear bomb tests, primarily with the intent of preventing their usage in other weapons of destruction, particularly terrorist access to fissile material.

In 2003, a report appeared in Science Magazine^[1] explained that over the previous four decades, as a result of more than 450 nuclear detonations in the northeastern region of Kazakhstan, particularly around the Semipalatinsk test site, area the area was contaminated with a significant amount of radioactive material that could potentially be utilised to create a dirty bomb.

The initial plan for the area was to convert it back to pasture and arable farmland.^[2] Radiation levels in the region were measured to this end. In some dispersed hotspots, however, radioactive levels were too high for human safety. Areas like these were paved with a thick layer (over six feet) of steel-reinforced concrete.

See also

• Cactus Dome