The Town of the XXI Century
Series of reports on ecological situation in Central Asia

THE PLANET'S NUCLEAR EPOCH

"THE NUCLEAR TRAGEDY OF KAZAKHSTAN"

So, Kazakhstan is one of the countries where nuclear tests were carried out. Currently Semipalatinsk testing range is known to everybody. It is sadly known. Many people write about it. The anti-nuclear movement "Nevada-Semipalatinsk" has appeared. Academic Ivan Chasnikov writes in his book "The echo of nuclear explosions" (we quote this book in the current report): "Lots of publications, international conferences and meetings have been devoted to consequences of American bombings of Japanese cities.

It is necessary to stress, that if the same amount of attention had been devoted to Kazakhstani victims of nuclear explosions, then we would have had a different situation. The USA and international organizations helped the people who lived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, Kazakhstan is left on its own and has to face the trouble without anybody's else support. More than 1000 Hiroshimas were executed at Semipalatinsk testing range".

THE SEMIPALATINSK RANGE

"The Semipalatinsk testing range was created on August 21, 1947, in accordance with the decision of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR.

In July of 1948 military units, mainly engineering ones, started to arrive at the site. This moment marked the beginning of construction of a top secret town, which was originally called Moscow-400. Laboratories and sites of future experiments, production installations and testing grounds were erected.

More than 18500 square kilometers were taken away from economic circulation and given for nuclear experiments.

The range covered the territories of Karaganda, Semipalatinsk and Pavlodar regions. Thousand of families of indigenous Kazakh people were moved into other regions. Military engineers were preparing a 300 square kilometer field for the first explosion. A 20-kiloton nuclear cartridge was placed in the epicenter of the field in a 30-meter tall metal tower. Concrete defense installations, armored towers and machine gun spots were erected around the nuclear cartridge tower.

Animals - sheep, pigs, dogs and rats - were placed into many of the installations. Further away a small town with apartment buildings, an underground line, a railroad and an automobile bridges, was built. Mannequins representing military men and boxes of food were scattered all over the field. All these preparations were done to study the destructive power of the nuclear explosion.

On August 29, 1949 the first test was carried out at the Semipalatinsk range. Mr Beria, the chief of the secret police was personally responsible for the success of the experiment. He prepared two lists. One list named all the scientists who will be given government awards in case of the success of the experiment, the other list had the same names on a death sentence list - this one was supposed to be used in case of a failure.

Since that day the military-industrial complex of the former Soviet Union declared a war on people living in Kazakhstan. This was the beginning of the nuclear tragedy of Kazakhstan, which lasted for 40 years. Almost all territory of the Republic was turned into a nuclear testing range - tests were carried out in all regions from Caspian Sea to Altai mountains.

The first successes inspired Soviet nuclear specialists. Satisfying the demands of the military industrial complex they started to intensively improve nuclear weapons. On August 12, 1953 thermonuclear weapons were tested and on November 22, 1955 the world found out about the super powerful Soviet hydrogen bomb developed under the leadership of Academic Andrei Sakharov. Immediately after the tests of these nuclear cartridges local radioactive rains fell on the range and adjacent territories.

Within 40 years of tests of nuclear weapons Semipalatinsk range experienced 470 explosions, out of this number 118 explosions with the power of up to 100 kilotons were carried out on the ground and in the air during the period from 1949 till 1963.

In 1963 participants of the nuclear marathon, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain signed an agreement banning execution of nuclear tests in the atmosphere, on the ground and under water. Since that moment it was allowed to carry out only underground explosions, but despite the ban, physicists and military people invented "economy oriented explosions" aimed at creating artificial lakes and gas storage places.

This town was not marked on any of the geographic maps. Top secrecy caused the town to often change its names: Moscow-400, Semipalatinsk-21, Konechnaya, recently it was called Kurchatov.

The Semipalatinsk testing range is located in a densely populated area. Territories of villages adjacent to the range were often polluted by the products of nuclear division, and citizens were affected by ionizing radiation.

Currently it is not possible to objectively evaluate the damage caused to the health of the people. Within first 14 years of operation open air and on the ground explosions of uranium, hydrogen and plutonium bombs were carried out at the range. During this period people living close to the range started to suffer more often from cancer-related diseases, diseases of heart and blood circulation system, central nerve system disorders. Death rate significantly increased.

Doctors were not allowed to state the correct diagnosis of the illnesses related to the influence of radiation.

In 1957 medical scientists from Almaty carried out the first series of selective studies involving people, who lived close to the range. A specific complex of symptoms , related to the influence of ionizing radiation, was detected.

It was mentioned that the influence of radiation causes the premature malfunctioning of human organs, increase in the number of cancer-related diseases, suicide cases.

Statistical data shows that in 1980 in Semipalatinsk region there were 158 cases of cancer-related diseases per 100000 people, by 1990 this figure grew up by one third. In 1990 the number of deaths caused by lung cancer was three times higher and digesting system cancers - 8 times higher than in 1980; in total the number of deaths caused by cancer-related diseases was 39% higher than among representatives of the control group.

Scientists were able to determine that 1,5 million people living in Semipalatinsk, Karaganda and Pavlodar regions, adjacent to the range, were affected by radiation in the amount of more than 1 bar and their chromosome malfunctions were transferred to their descendants. Currently thousands of people living on the territory adjacent to the range are left without any support from the side of the government. Though the government of Kazakhstan adopted a law "On rehabilitation of people affected by nuclear tests", the law does not work appropriately because of the difficult economic situation in the Republic.

On February 28, 1989 the anti-nuclear movement "Nevada-Semipalatinsk" was born. The main goal of the movement is to work toward closure of all nuclear testing ranges, which are currently working on the planet.

Currently the territory of the former Semipalatinsk range is used by the National nuclear center of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The center is comprised of: the Institute of radiation security and ecology, Institute of nuclear energy, Institute of geophysical research, republican medical and diagnostic center. Their activities are concentrated on the problems related to research and liquidation of the consequences of nuclear tests, improvement of reliability of energy producing devices and solution of the problems of nuclear energy security.

To demilitarize the range, the Ministry of the defense of the United States of America provided Kazakhstan with funds allocated for liquidation of the infrastructure of the range. In September of 1996 in Kurchatov a Kazakhstani-American joint-venture started to produce micro chips for the electronic industry. It is proposed that in the future a radioecological center will be established in Kurchatov".

Academic Chasnikov adds to this report:
"During nuclear tests, which were executed at the Semipalatinsk range, in half of the cases of on-the-ground explosions the traces of explosions moved out of the borders of the range and locally polluted the regions adjacent to the range. In cases of underground explosions, 30 times radioactive gas went outside and was moved out of the borders of the range. In 11 cases out of 88 atmospheric explosions local pollution of the territory close to the range was registered. In cases of atmospheric explosions the majority of the division products was thrown into the atmosphere, and later on they globally fell on the ground".

"Let us review the health conditions of children born in the regions adjacent to the Semipalatinsk testing range. Even 1957-1959 it was detected that nuclear explosions and health conditions were correlated. Radiation sources were found in the ground, in food products, in water animal and human bodies, which led to deterioration of health conditions of the people and to the increase in the death rate. Within last 10 years in Semipalatinsk region the number of people having blood cancer has doubled. The number of children born with various abnormalities and the death rate among children have also increased. In 1988 the death rate among children was 18 percent higher than the average level for Kazakhstan and 2 times higher than the average level for Ukraine. Many women living in Semipalatinsk region are afraid of bearing children with disabilities and prefer to have no children at all. Underground tests of nuclear weapons are also not harmless. Many people, especially small children felt themselves really bad at the times of underground tests."

In 1991 academic Chasnikov wrote: "During many years of exploitation of the range almost no preventive measures were taken to help local people. People do not have information about the level of radiation, about the degree of cleanness of agricultural products. Even now herds of cattle use the territory of the range and adjacent territories as pastures. There are cases when the remains of equipment and machinery left after the explosions are used by local people at their farms. I met people, who as children visited places of on-the-ground nuclear tests.

During on-the-ground and atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons people living in the near by villages and towns got the dozes of radioactive influence, which amounted to tens and even hundreds of bar per year. "The norms of radioactive security" provide that limits of radioactive doze from internal and external radiation are set at 0,5 bar per person per year. That is why it is not surprising that from 1959 till 1987 in the region the number of deaths caused by blood cancer has tripled and the number of children born with various stages of mental retardation has increased several times. The numbers of people born with various disabilities and the number of suicide cases have also increased. Only in Sarzhal village there were 40 suicide cases within last few years; there were no suicides in the history of the village until 1964.