ALMATY. Nov 20 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - Research on the Kazakh part of the Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea, a site for biological weapons testing in Soviet times, will begin in the spring of 2003.
"This research is very important, as we fear that biological agents that were tested on the island might have leaked into the environment," Bakhyt Atshabar, director of the Kazakh Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Infections, told Interfax on Wednesday.
Atshabar noted that experts from the center's anti-plague department will conduct a government research program on the island over next year. Funds for the program will be provided from the republic's budget.
He assured that Kazakh experts will be able to conduct the research on their own. However, Russia might help Kazakhstan in these efforts since it has information about the testing.
"Russia has information about the tests, but Russian agencies are reluctant to share it, although Kazakhstan has sent official requests to this effect," the center's director said.
Kazakhstan still does not possess all necessary information about the situation on the island. However, scientists concluded that large amounts of anthrax pathogens were buried on the island in Soviet times.
In the 1950s, the island had an area of 200 square kilometers, which has now significantly increased because the Aral Sea is drying up.
The testing ground, which was open until 1992, conducted tests on the plague, anthrax and brucellosis.