Country Algeria Commune In Amguel Time zone CET (UTC+1) | District Tamanrasset District Elevation 991 m (3,251 ft) Province Tamanrasset Province | |
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In Eker (also written as I-n-Eker or In Ekker) is a village in the commune of In Amguel, in Tamanrasset District, Tamanrasset Province, Algeria. It lies on the N1 national highway 39 kilometres (24 mi) north of In Amguel and 145 kilometres (90 mi) north of Tamanrasset city.
Contents
Map of In Ekker, Algeria
Climate
In Eker has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with hot summers and mild winters, and very little precipitation throughout the year.
Testing Site
In the 1960s In Eker was the scene of a several Nuclear Tests conducted by the occupying French military. The included the now infamous Béryl incident which saw the release of Radioactive fallout.).
In 1999 the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted tests at the site and found that some radioactive contamination remained on the surface. This was in the form of several isotopes with Ceasium 137 being the most prominent. Their report concluded that
that Nomadic pastoralism through the adjacent areas would result in exposures of around 50µSV/a, however
Persons scavenging metals in the immediate vicinity of the E2 [test] tunnel might receive doses up to 0.5mSv in 8 hours. Currently external exposure rates are less than one tenth those existing in 1966.
The study further optimistically found alpha particle emission from the solidified lava is roughly the same as the surrounding natural rock, which has some naturally occurring uranium.
To date some limited follow up of French personnel has taken place, no long term study of the native population, nor the aquifers in the area has been done.