For more information, visit the Nuclear Threat Initiative's Semipalatinsk Test Site page: http://www.nti.org/facilities/732/ Media inquiries: NTI: www.nti.org/newsroom CNS: Jason Warburg (jwarburg@miis.edu, 831.647.3516) CNS: Eva Gudbergsdottir (evag@miis.edu, 831.647.6606) On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first 22 kiloton atomic bomb in a test codenamed First Lightning. This test was the first of 456 Soviet Nuclear tests carried out at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site between 1949 and 1989. As a result of the nuclear testing program, Semipalatinsk remains contaminated with plutonium posing ongoing nuclear security concerns. The 18,000 square kilometer test site is located in eastern Kazakhstan, about 400 km southeast of Astana, and is five times larger than the U.S. nuclear test site in Nevada. There were 4 major testing areas at the site, along with 2 research reactors, supported from then closed city of Kurchatov. 116 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests took place at the 'Experiential Field,' either detonated on towers or dropped from aircraft. After the Limited Test Ban Treaty entered into force in 1963, the Soviet Union carried out 340 underground nuclear tests in caves or boreholes at all four sites. Semipalatinsk also was the location of 9 of the Soviet Union's peaceful nuclear explosions. This program intended to use nuclear devices to create artificial lakes, aid in mining and other large scale infrastructure projects. The last nuclear test conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site took place at Balapan in November 1989. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly independent Kazakhstan inherited the site. Russian scientists and security personnel quickly departed without leaving information for the Kazakh authorities about the location of many of the tunnels or boreholes. The Semipalatinsk test range was officially closed by Kazakhstan's President Nazarbayev on 29 August 1991. Semipalatinsk Test Site facilities are now under the jurisdiction of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is involved in civilian activities and conversion of the site to non-defense uses.

• published: 12 Mar 2014
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