Stop six
The Polygon Today and Tomorrow
How the test site became a symbol of peace and nuclear disarmament
The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site is a place that has evolved from a symbol of destructive power to a symbol of peace and nuclear disarmament. How did this happen?
The landfill as a symbol of danger
Seventy years ago, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was built in the heart of Kazakhstan. At this site approximately 500 nuclear explosions were conducted between 1949 and 1989. These tests changed the lives of thousands of people, the environment, and the entire region forever.
When silence was broken
In the late 1980s, when the truth about the scale of the disaster began to emerge, the people of Kazakhstan revolted. In 1989, poet Olzhas Suleimenov founded the "Nevada-Semipalatinsk" movement, uniting hundreds of thousands of people in Kazakhstan, the United States, Japan, and other countries. It became the world's first mass anti-nuclear popular movement.
A historic decision
On august 29, 1991 President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree closing the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
Symbol of peace
Kazakhstan has shown the world that the country can renounce nuclear weapons for the sake of humanity's future and security:
1992
1992
signed the Lisbon Protocol, which set out its commitments to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons
1993
1993
one of the first in the CIS (along with Ukraine and Belarus) to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
1994
1994
Kazakhstan was one of the first countries to voluntarily renounce the world's fourth-largest nuclear weapons arsenal, inherited from the USSR. The world's nuclear powers signed a Memorandum of Security Guarantees for Kazakhstan.
1995
1995
The last nuclear charge at the former Semipalatinsk test site was destroyed
1996
1996
became a party to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
According to the 2025 SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) report there are more than 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world, almost 90% of which are held by the United States and Russia.
The history of the test site is more than just textbook facts. It is an example of how the voice of the people can stop the most dangerous technologies and change the course of history.
Kazakhstan has become a global authority on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. August 29, the day the test site was closed, was declared as the International Day against Nuclear Tests by the UN.
Kazakhstan has become a global authority on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. August 29, the day the test site was closed, was declared as the International Day against Nuclear Tests by the UN.
Want to meet someone who witnessed the aftermath of two of history's largest nuclear disasters?
Dmitry Kalmykov is the development director of the Karaganda Regional Ecological Museum and a liquidator of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. In 1989, he came from Ukraine to Kazakhstan, where he became interested in the fate of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
Dmitry Kalmykov is the development director of the Karaganda Regional Ecological Museum and a liquidator of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. In 1989, he came from Ukraine to Kazakhstan, where he became interested in the fate of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
Atomic secrets
Author: Zhana Kurmasheva, The Guardian Documentaries
Since then, he has studied its consequences and protecting Kazakhstanis from the hidden threat of radiation. Dmitry is a living witness to how nuclear tests and accidents change people's lives for decades to come, and he is ready to share breathtaking stories.
In the documentary Atomic Secrets he explains how atomic bombs were tested at the test site and why houses, equipment, and even animals were exposed to the blasts. But most importantly, he explains why, even more than 30 years after the test site's closure, radiation remains with us, and its consequences continue to impact human health and the environment.
In the documentary Atomic Secrets he explains how atomic bombs were tested at the test site and why houses, equipment, and even animals were exposed to the blasts. But most importantly, he explains why, even more than 30 years after the test site's closure, radiation remains with us, and its consequences continue to impact human health and the environment.
Moving memory
The dance performance 'Azhe' is an artistic response to an online course about the tragedy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and its legacy.
Meruert Argimbayeva is an environmental activist and local of Semipalatinsk. Immersing herself in the course materials, facts, archives, and eyewitness accounts became a turning point for her—a moment when documented history demanded a personal, physical expression.
Through movement, she conveys the image of a young woman who lived on the site during the nuclear tests. She tells a story of fear, pain, and the devastating consequences of the poisoning of the land, air, and water.
Meruert Argimbayeva is an environmental activist and local of Semipalatinsk. Immersing herself in the course materials, facts, archives, and eyewitness accounts became a turning point for her—a moment when documented history demanded a personal, physical expression.
Through movement, she conveys the image of a young woman who lived on the site during the nuclear tests. She tells a story of fear, pain, and the devastating consequences of the poisoning of the land, air, and water.
'Azhe' is the image of a woman whose fate reflects the tragedy of an entire generation. It is memory. It is the voice of the land. It is a reminder of the price people paid.
start
Home
This online course was developed by the EcoMuseum
within the framework of the impact partnership with Alternativa Film Days