August 29 – The Day against Nuclear Testing

Ivo Šlaus

Member of the Pugwash Council and European Leadership Network

Honorary President of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences,

Honorary member of The Club of Rome

On December 2, 2009, the participants of the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly  declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests, unanimously adopting  Resolution 64/35.

The resolution was initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with a large number of sponsors and cosponsors with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991. The document calls for increasing awareness and education “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.”  

 August 6, 1945 entered the history of humankind as the day of the tragedy of the Japanese people who suffered from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For almost 74 years this day has been celebrated as a day of remembrance and sorrow. For Kazakhstanis who survived the tragedy of nuclear testing, the pain and suffering that the people of Japan had to go through are deeply understood. Over the 40 years of its operation, from 1949 to 1989, more than 450 nuclear explosions thundered over more than a million people at the Semipalatinsk test site. On August 29, 1991, by the will of the people of Kazakhstan, the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev closed the landfill forever with his Decree. All these years, Kazakhstan has been taking measures to eliminate the consequences of nuclear weapons tests at the former Semipalatinsk test site.

Nuclear tests were conducted underground, under water and in the atmosphere. As of 1993, worldwide, 520 atmospheric nuclear explosions (including 8 underwater) have been conducted with a total yield of 545 megatons (Mt): 217 Mt from fission and 328 Mt from fusion. The estimated number of nuclear tests conducted in the period from 1957 to 1992 is 2121 explosions with a total yield of 90 Mt: 1032 by the USA, 715 by the USSR, 217 by France, 88 by the UK, 47 by China, as well as several by other countries. In terms of percentages of the yield: 55% by the USSR and 36% by the USA. The deaths caused by Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs are estimated to be between 129,000 and 226,000. The number of people estimated as being affected by explosion – ‘Hibakusha’ are estimated around 650,000. Casualties from nuclear tests estimated by CTBTO are from 340,000 to 690,000. The total number of person that could die because of nuclear tests goes up to 2.4 millions. According to the University of Arizona studies 49.000 cancer death are related to American test.  There are children born with excessive deformations and without limbs.   

During 40 years (1949 to 1989) 456 nuclear tests were conducted in Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. In Semey, the largest city near the test site, there is a Museum with exhibits-victims of nuclear tests.

Hiroshima and Semey became symbols of not only tragedy, but also of the struggle against the nuclear threat. Kazakhstan, together with Japan and other members of the world community, has consistently and actively pursued a policy aimed at ridding mankind of nuclear weapons and strengthening the non-proliferation regime. On the initiative of Kazakhstan, in 2009, a resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on declaring August 29 as an international day against nuclear testing. In accordance with the objectives of this resolution, conferences, seminars, exhibitions and other events were held in Kazakhstan and many countries of the world, aimed at reminding the world of the terrible consequences of nuclear tests and urging them not to be allowed in the future.

It is important to emphasize the outstanding role of the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and the current President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev - who headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan during the years of country’s independence, in strengthening international security and implementing international efforts in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Together with the countries of the region, in 2006 Kazakhstan created a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia. It is very symbolic that the Agreement on the creation of the zone was signed in Semipalatinsk. Kazakhstan will always promote the ideals of a world without nuclear weapons and actively participate in international events and initiatives aimed at achieving this goal. This is a priority of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy.

In 2015, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the initiative of the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Universal Declaration on building a world free of nuclear weapons. Supported by most UN member states, it has become an important step towards the adoption of a legally binding international instrument to ban nuclear weapons.

On 27 August 2015, Kazakhstan and the IAEA signed an agreement on the establishment of the IAEA low enriched uranium Bank (LEUB) in Kazakhstan (which was inaugurated in 2017). Full commissioning of the Bank is planned for the next two years. By providing its territory for the Bank, Kazakhstan has made its next historic contribution to the creation of a completely new mechanism for guaranteed supply of LEU to IAEA member States.

The period from 2017 to 2018 was one of the culmination stages of the development of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy, where the Republic of Kazakhstan was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The First President Nursultan Nazarbayev once again reaffirmed his commitment to implementing the agreements on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT). This was Kazakhstan’s top priority at this critical post.

Another important initiative of Kazakhstan is the Atom project, in which any person on Earth who opposes nuclear weapons can sign an online petition to world governments with an appeal to forever abandon nuclear tests.

         Kazakhstan highly values the role of civil society in nuclear disarmament and the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and believes that only by combining the efforts of civil society, parliamentarians and governments can the noble goal of ridding mankind of nuclear weapons be achieve. Only the complete deliverance of the planet from nuclear weapons can guarantee that the tragedy of Hiroshima will never happen again.