Semipalatinsk Test Site - The Times Of Central Asia

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Nuclear Disarmament

Central Asian States Call for New Arms Controls as Nuclear Framework Weakens

Foreign ministers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have called for new, verifiable arms control mechanisms to prevent a nuclear arms race, warning that international disarmament efforts are losing ground. In a joint statement issued on September 8 to mark 20 years since the signing of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, the five governments expressed concern over stalled disarmament, the end of key agreements, and the modernization of nuclear arsenals. They urged nuclear powers to resume negotiations. The statement comes seven months after New START, the last U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arms treaty, expired on February 5. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said its expiration left the two countries without binding limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. President Donald Trump has criticized New START as a “badly negotiated deal” and called instead for a new, modernized arms control treaty that would include China. The ministers also cited the failure of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which ended without a consensus outcome on May 22. Kazakhstan had already advanced a similar position. As TCA reported, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used the August 29 anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site’s closure to call for negotiations among nuclear powers, the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and renewed multilateral action to reduce nuclear risks. Kazakhstan’s connection to the issue extends beyond diplomacy. The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk between 1949 and 1989. Kazakhstan closed the site in 1991 and subsequently relinquished the nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the Soviet collapse. The regional treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk on September 8, 2006, and entered into force in 2009. It established the first nuclear-weapon-free zone located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, directly bordering two nuclear-weapon states, Russia and China. That history gives Kazakhstan a distinctive place in regional nuclear diplomacy. Uzbekistan originated the proposal for the zone, presenting it at the UN General Assembly in September 1993. The September 8 statement explicitly acknowledges Uzbekistan’s initiative while crediting all five countries with establishing the zone. The statement also recognizes Kyrgyzstan for initiating the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, observed annually on March 5, and Turkmenistan for chairing the December 2024 anniversary meeting in Ashgabat. Kazakhstan has also helped coordinate cooperation beyond Central Asia. In August 2024, it hosted a conference in Astana with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs to strengthen cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones, following an earlier meeting in 2019. The five states also renewed their appeal for the United States to ratify a protocol providing security assurances to the region. In May 2014, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the protocol on negative security assurances, committing not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the five Central Asian treaty members. The other four signatories have ratified it. Washington has not. The request is longstanding. The five governments made the same appeal...

Semipalatinsk Test Site

Tokayev Calls for Nuclear Talks 35 Years After Semipalatinsk Closure

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for negotiations among nuclear powers and urged faster action to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, designed to prohibit all nuclear test explosions, into force as Kazakhstan marked the 35th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on August 29. The date also marks the International Day against Nuclear Tests, established by the UN General Assembly at Kazakhstan’s initiative in 2009. “Our country’s position as one of the leaders of the global anti-nuclear movement remains unchanged. We call for negotiations among nuclear powers, the earliest possible entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and decisive multilateral action to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons use,” Tokayev said. He said Kazakhstan’s decision to relinquish the world’s fourth-largest inherited nuclear arsenal reflected a choice in favor of peace, security, and sustainable development. Tokayev also said nuclear energy should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, linking the country’s referendum-backed development of nuclear power to its long-term economic, scientific, and technological development. A Call After New START’s Expiry New START, the last U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arms treaty, expired on February 5, 2026. On-site inspections, paused by mutual agreement in March 2020 because of the pandemic, never resumed. Russia blocked inspections in 2022 and halted treaty-required data exchanges after suspending implementation in 2023. The treaty’s expiry removed the last legally binding bilateral limits on deployed U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces, with no successor agreement in place. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has still not entered into force nearly three decades after opening for signature. It has been signed by 188 states and ratified by 179. Ratification by nine of the 44 states whose ratification is required for the treaty to enter into force is still needed. China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, and the United States have signed but not ratified. India, North Korea, and Pakistan have not signed, while Russia revoked its ratification in 2023. Speaking at a Stimson Center event in Washington on August 26, co-hosted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and attended by The Times of Central Asia, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made a broader case for renewed engagement. “This is an era for diplomacy,” Grossi said, arguing that growing international fragmentation has made diplomacy more necessary. Tokayev also brings direct experience to the issue. Before becoming president, he served as a UN under-secretary-general and director-general of the UN Office at Geneva, the UN secretary-general’s personal representative to the Conference on Disarmament, and secretary-general of the Conference on Disarmament. Disarmament in Practice The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk between 1949 and 1989, causing lasting damage to human health and the environment in surrounding regions. After independence, Kazakhstan transferred the nuclear warheads on its territory to Russia, joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon state, and worked with the United States to dismantle associated infrastructure under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program. Much of that cooperation took place through the program commonly known as Nunn–Lugar....

Nuclear Legacy

Kurchatov: Kazakhstan’s Atomic City Finds New Life After Nuclear Tests

Strong winds, scorching sun, abandoned five-story apartment blocks standing next to occupied homes, crows and horses wandering the streets: this is how Kurchatov appears to visitors today. Once closed to outsiders, the city was the heart of Soviet nuclear science and military power. More than three decades after the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, how does this unique corner of Kazakhstan live now? Construction of the test site began on August 21, 1947. It covered 18,500 square kilometers at the intersection of what are now the Abai, Pavlodar, and Karaganda regions. Two years later, on August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test here. Soviet nuclear scientists helped create the country’s “nuclear shield,” but it was Kazakhstan that decades later brought the tests to an end. On August 29, 1991, by decree of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Semipalatinsk test site was officially closed. Over 42 years, at least 456 nuclear tests were carried out at the site, affecting more than 1.5 million people. The history of Kurchatov began as a military garrison. Because of its secrecy, the city changed names several times, including “Moscow-400,” “Nadezhda,” and “Bereg.” It later became known as Kurchatov, after Soviet physicist Igor Kurchatov, although for many years it remained better known by its code name: Semipalatinsk-21. The first builders and military personnel lived in extremely harsh conditions. “At first, many lived in dugouts, and the walls froze through completely,” older residents recall. “In winter, hair froze to the beds, and fingers were often frostbitten.” “I came to serve here from Moldova and thought I was going to a regional center. Instead, they sent us into the steppe, to the dugouts. No electricity, no heating, no gas. Cold, mud, wind. But I stayed anyway. I got married and later brought my parents here,” Viktor Bordei, who has lived in Kurchatov for 47 years, told The Times of Central Asia. [caption id="attachment_51250" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Viktor Bordei, a resident of Kurchatov; image: TCA[/caption] For many who served at the test site, their work felt like a matter of honor. “We didn’t think about the consequences,” Bordei admits. “We believed we were strengthening the Soviet Union’s nuclear shield. Nobody spoke about the harm until Nazarbayev announced the damage done to nature and people. Of course, it’s painful to realize we were kept in the dark.” Over time, memories of that period have become intertwined with nostalgia. Former residents recall developed infrastructure, well-stocked stores, and strict order. After the military left, Kurchatov took years to recover, losing both people and housing while preserving the spirit of its unusual past. “I remember how the walls shook during the explosions. I also remember the day the military left. It was frightening, and nobody knew what would happen next. Now it hurts to see abandoned buildings and horses wandering the streets, but I don’t want to leave. The city is changing, and I believe in it,” says local resident Elena Kazachuk, who was born in Kurchatov. Zoya Lapshina...

TCA Interviews

Kazakhstani Filmmaker Zhanana Kurmasheva on Her Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site Documentary

Zhanana Kurmasheva is a Kazakhstani documentary filmmaker and graduate of the T. K. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts, where she studied film directing. Her debut feature documentary, We Live Here, turns to the human legacy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site through the lives of people still living with its consequences. The film became the first documentary from Kazakhstan selected for competition at CPH:DOX, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals. Over the past year and a half, We Live Here has screened at international festivals and was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the 2025 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In an interview with The Times of Central Asia, Kurmasheva discusses why the story of the Semipalatinsk test site resonates with audiences around the world, what it was like filming on contaminated land, the growing interest in tours to the area, and why her next film will focus on consumerism. TCA: Zhanana, We Live Here premiered at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals. What did that moment mean for you? Zhanana: In the world of documentary cinema, CPH:DOX is one of the most prestigious festivals. Every filmmaker wants to be there because it showcases more than 200 of the strongest documentaries from around the world each year. Our film also became the first Kazakh project ever invited to compete in the festival. There were only 12 films in our section, and getting in was extremely difficult because the competition was intense. Being included in a program of that caliber came as a huge surprise to us. TCA: Why was it such a surprise? Zhanana: Honestly, when we were making this film, we never expected this level of success or invitations to so many festivals. By documentary standards, our project was produced on a very modest budget provided by Kazakhstan’s national film fund. The film was made largely through enthusiasm and dedication, without major international resources or influential foreign co-producers. We did everything ourselves. That is why I’m grateful for the opportunity CPH:DOX gave us. Participation there immediately brought international visibility to the film. TCA: What role did producer Banu Ramazanova play in bringing the film to international audiences? Zhanana: The fact that this film happened at all is largely thanks to our producer, Banu Ramazanova. She single-handedly promoted the film using her own resources. She believed in the project so strongly that she proved documentary cinema is worth investing in and that it can achieve a very high level. It’s wonderful that we have producers like her in Kazakhstan who genuinely care about the future of our documentary industry. TCA: Why do you think the selection committees responded to the film? Zhanana: It’s difficult for me to judge because we weren’t the ones making the selections. But if I had to guess, several factors played a role. First, Central Asia is still largely absent from the global documentary landscape. People know very little about our region, so any appearance of material from here naturally...