RN40, Kuwait City, Kuwait

RN40 is located about three metres above sea level on the southern shore of Kuwait Bay, west of the Arabian Gulf in Shuwaikh, Kuwait City, Kuwait. RN40 is within the premises of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). 

IMS radionuclide station RN 40 is a particularly important station for Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) verification in the Middle East, as it is currently the only radionuclide station in the region. The only other radionuclide station in the region foreseen in the Treaty, RN36 in Teheran, is still in the planning stage. 

Kuwait is 17,818 km² in area, mostly flat, sandy desert gradually sloping towards the sea. 

Due to Kuwait’s location in the Sahara geographical region, the country’s weather is characterized by long, hot, dry summers and short, warm, sometimes rainy winters. Dust storms almost always occur with a rise in humidity during summer. The highest temperature ever recorded was 52°C in July 1978, making Kuwait the fourth hottest country in the world. 

The site comprises the station building, VSAT antenna and diesel-powered electric generator. Kuwait’s RN40 is an automatic station of the RASA type—that is, a Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler and Analyzer—system. The station operators were trained during the installation of the equipment.

RASA is a fully integrated, automated system for the monitoring of airborne radionuclides. It consists of an air sampler with an operational airflow rate of 610 m3 h-1 (i.e. cubic metres of air per hour or the volume of air that passes through the filter per unit of time). The blower can provide airflow up to 1,200 m3h-1 in clean air. Because heavy airborne dust and sandstorms are weather phenomena peculiar to this area, the maximum mass flow rate that can be maintained for a day period at site is about 700 m3h-1 to avoid filter clogging due to sand in the air. The meteorological system located on the station’s roof is connected to RASA’s computer system. The following meteorological parameters are measured: precipitation, air temperature, humidity and pressure, wind speed and wind direction with ultrasonic sensor.