The paper presents the results of radiation surveying and determination of radionuclide and elemental composition in water objects (soil, bottom sediments, water) of the transboundary rivers Shu, Shor-Koo, Aksu, Karabalta, Toktas as well as of Tasotkel water-storage in Kazakhstan in vicinity of the border with Kyrgyzstan. Increased contents of natural radionuclides of 238 U and 232 Th series, As, Co, Cs, Cu, Hf, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sc, Zn, Zr and rare earth elements were observed in soil and bottom sediment samples. Increased contents of the following toxic elements were revealed in water samples: B, As, Mo, Ba, U. Negative influence of radiation-hazardous sites in Kyrgyzstan on the contamination of the transboundary rivers with natural radionuclides and toxic elements was revealed.

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The paper reports on the study of radionuclide and elemental composition of water, bottom sediment and soil samples collected at the border areas of the following transboundary rivers in Kazakhstan: Chagan, Ural, Ilek, Tobol, Ayat, Irtysh, Emel, Ili, Tekes, Shu, Karabalta, Talas and Syrdarya. The employed analyses include the following methods: instrumental gamma-ray spectrometry, radiochemical analysis, neutron activation analysis, XRF and the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Evidence of water environment contamination with radionuclides and toxic elements has been revealed in many of the studied rivers both in Kazakhstan and in adjacent countries. Transboundary transfer of the contaminants is most likely related to local industry (uranium mining and processing) and the presence of radioactive substances in the river basins.

An elemental analysis of the Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna hair fragments from the Moscow Kremlin necropolis has been carried out. The mass fractions of elements were determined by several methods: neutron activation analysis (using three facilities – the IBR-2 reactor, the IREN research facility, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia; and the WWR-K reactor, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Republic of Kazakhstan), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and atomic emission spectroscopy (Institute of Nuclear Physics, Republic of Kazakhstan). The results confirmed the hypothesis of mercury poisoning of the first Russian Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna.

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