International symposium in Semey, Kazakhstan, co-organized by IARC and NIIRME

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Scientific Research Institute of Radiation Medicine and Ecology (NIIRME) in Kazakhstan are organizing an international symposium on Low-Dose Radiation and Cancer: 70 Years after the First Test at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, to be held on 4 October 2019 in Semey, Kazakhstan.

The symposium will bring together international experts in dosimetry, cancer epidemiology, risk communication, and radiation biology to share their experience and knowledge on low-dose radiation and cancer risks, and to facilitate further collaborative efforts to study the health consequences of nuclear test exposures.

As part of these efforts, in 2013–2016 IARC carried out a feasibility assessment for a prospective cohort study of residents near the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (the SEMI-NUC project), supported by a grant from the European Commission. The objective of the project was to assess the feasibility of establishing a long-term, prospective cohort study on health effects of low and moderate radiation exposures from the testing of nuclear weapons at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

Read more about the SEMI-NUC project