Project Description

$400 million was appropriated for fulfillment of the Nunn-Lugar Program to aid the Former Soviet Union in nuclear and chemical demilitarization. This program is more widely known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program.

Scope of Services

Lachel & Associates, Inc. participated in a unique three-year CTR-funded program to close existing facilities at the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (STS), in Kazakhstan. These facilities totaled more than 180 tunnels, the majority of which were used for nuclear testing. The goal of the program was to render these facilities useless for future application, secure demilitarization, and  provide more reliable verification in conjunction with the requirements of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Lachel engineers traveled to STS to assess the condition of the existing facilities and monitor the Kazakhstanis' characterization of them. Lachel worked closely with representatives of various ministries and organizations in the Republic of Kazakhstan to review and evaluate the Kazakhstani construction descriptions and geological site characterizations as well as their proposed closure methodologies. Based on these evaluations, methodologies to provide complete closure were reviewed and revised. Due to Lachel's expertise in underground construction, particularly tunneling technology, the client requested that an Lachel engineer be present at all closure operations to provide technical advice to the client's on-site contractual representative and ensure neutralization was achieved.