Kazakh, British scientists win NATO Science Prize

Scientists from Kazakhstan and Britain have been named for the NATO Science Partnership Prize for 2007, said a NATO press release on Friday.

They will be rewarded for excellent collaboration in a NATO- sponsored project on radiological risk in Kazakhstan.

Professor Mukash Burkitbayev from Kazakhstan and Professor Nick Priest from Britain will receive the prize for their work assessing radioactive contamination at the nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk,Kazakhstan, which was operated by the former Soviet Union.

Within this 18,500-square kilometer site, over 450 nuclear devices were detonated over a 40-year period ending in 1989. The facility was officially closed by the Kazakh government in 1992.

The NATO-sponsored radiological laboratory at the al Farabi National University in Almaty provides Kazakhstan with a much needed capability to analyze radiation risks. The laboratory also provides a means for training young Kazakh scientists.

The Prize consists of a 10,000-euro (13,200-U.S. dollar) grant to each of the winners to support their further research.

The prize will be awarded by NATO Deputy Secretary General at NATO headquarters next Thursday.

Source: Xinhua