The Monster of Semipalatinsk

by Kaisha Atakhanova

The two months we spent in an expedition to the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing range was one long nightmare. The dying nuclear monster that spread out before us defied all logic. Thousands of our countrymen had been prisoners of the military-industrial complex for 40 years, experiencing explosions equal to 20,000 Hiroshima bombs. During the nuclear testing range's operation form the 1950s to 1990, 468 nuclear tests were carried out, including 26 above-ground tests, 124 atmospheric and 344 underground.

In addition, dozens of nonmilitary tests were conducted for so-called "peaceful purposes." According to published data, the residents of test site areas were moved to safe zones during the testing and then nine days later allowed to return to their farms although dose levels had often reached as high as 250 roentgens per hour right after the tests. A survey of the residents of the nearby Abai Sovkhoz confirmed that no protective measures such as decontamination of the land were taken before their return.

Radiation pollution also resulted from the underground testing that began in 1963. According to T. Takhtarova, chairperson of the Kazakh Parliament Health Protection Committee, underground explosions were conducted in the upper soil layer until 1980, and radioactive gas leaks accompanied nearly 30 percent of the tests.

The nuclear testing range is now silent, but the end of nuclear testing does not mean the end of its devastating consequences. Eighteen thousand square kilometers of deadly land now surrounds three Kazakh oblasts: Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar and Karaganda. hundreds of thousands of people residing near the nuclear testing range continue to experience its lasting effects.

Our expedition could not help but notice the poor quality of life of the population - store shelves are empty and medical services are primitive at best. The country's economic crisis weighs heavily on the rural villages. Far away from urban centers, lacking in communications, transportation, gas, medicine and nutritious foods, the local people, particularly the young and the sick, suffer great economic hardship. As a result, the population is bound ever closer to the nuclear testing range, using the poisoned land for pasturing livestock and sowing crops.

We saw how over three years the local people had scavenged the nuclear testing range's military dump for spare parts. Ignorant of the dangers, they had made the huge, abandoned underground city with its communication systems, missile launch pads and forgotten lakes the source of many of life's necessities. During our investigation of the nuclear testing range and its use by the population, we measured uneven levels of contamination, but in several places the background radiation reached an average of 1,500 microroentgen per hour.

In 1965, the largest nuclear explosion (200-kilotons) occurred in the Shagan River valley leaving a huge crater. Radioactive dust covered everything within a radius of eight kilometers. To prevent contamination of the Irtish River, dikes and canals were built to connect the bomb crater with the Shagan River, creating the infamous nuclear lake "Atomkul." Later, the lake was stocked with fish which, until recently, were caught by local fishermen and sold in the nearby towns and villages.

Background radiation levels in the Atomkul district now reach more than 5,000 microentgens per hour. Nonetheless, the local people continue to pasture their livestock and grow crops there. A local shepherd told us that the military had warned him that he was grazing his flock on contaminated land, but since he had no dosimeter, he was unable to determine where it would be safe to pasture his animals. Supplying the population with dosimeters, however would not really solve the problem because they are being exposed to the strongest carcinogens, plutonium and americium, particulates of which are carried in the air and breathed by people and animals.

Generations Poisoned

Plutonium is similar to iron in that it affects the developing fetus, its blood and sex cells and causes genetic mutation. Local people described cases of newborn livestock with various deformities, such as sheep with three legs or only one eye. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Health, human birth defect levels in the region 6.4-8.6 times the Soviet average; mental retardation and diseases of the nervous system, 2.5 times greater; and immunological problems, blood diseases, endocrine pathology and cancer has significantly increased. These problems illustrate the effects on the younger generation living in the nuclear testing range.

Scientific monitoring conducted over several years on a number of species allowed us to establish the results of radiation contamination on animals in the region. Through morphophysiological indicators, micronuclear tests and chromosomal analysis, mutation frequency was shown to be three to seven times greater than in a relatively clean zone. We noted a variety of anomalies including alternation of internal organs, pathology of the reproduction organs and growth deficiencies that demonstrated the powerful genetic effects of living over a long period of time in radioactive surroundings. However, we must not in our studies ignore the capability of organisms to adapt to adverse conditions. Looking at this issue will have great interest for science and it will be important to remain objective as we analyze this complex situation.

Along with everything else, our nuclear monster, while devouring billions of rubles, also created a region of seismic danger. According to an ecological study of 45 bomb craters located close to coal deposits, ten were found to be dangerously radioactive and three were releasing radioactive gases. In 1992, the burning of underground gases also created a new crater 70 meters wide and 20 meters deep. Further more the loosened soil in the region is carried far and wide area by strong prevailing winds, introducing radioactive particulates into the air.

Five percent of the region has been found to be contaminated by alpha and beta radiation and two soil samples near the village of Balapan revealed elevated plutonium levels. Therefore, along with all the other postponed measures that should have been taken for the protection of those living in the nuclear testing range, radioecological and geo-chemical studies need to be conducted of the land used for agricultural and other economic purposes. The studies would track the migration of radionuclides in groundwater and gases as well as possible underground burning.

Medical help, vitamins and other kinds assistance are sorely needed by people who are suffering from the consequences of nuclear testing in places less well known than Semipalatinsk. Oblasts like Kazibekbiskaya, Karkaralinskaya, Bayanaulskaya, Maiskaya and Lebyazhinskaya remain without support from either the government or other sources of humanitarian aid. They cannot solve their problems alone. The support of many people and organizations is needed.

Thanks to the activity and help of the Socio-Ecological Union, ISAR, the Peace Corps, Mercy Corp and the MacArthur Foundation, our Ecocenter has already had the opportunity to work, exchange information and participate in discussions on radioecological problems. We have taken the first steps, and we welcome the chance to cooperate with all who are not indifferent to human misfortune.

A founder of the NGO Ecocenter in Karaganda, Kazakstan, Kaisha Atakhanova is a herpetologist who received a MacArthur Foundation grant to conduct a scientific study of the Semipalatinsk region in the summer of 1994. She is a member of the board of ISAR's Central Asian environmental grants program.

Top of the Page www.isar.org/isar/Semipalatinsk.html