NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 2— Kazakhstan has warned the world against repeating the devastation of nuclear testing, drawing on the experience of its Semipalatinsk test site where 456 nuclear tests exposed about 1.5 million people to high levels of radiation.

📻 Breaking It Down

Speaking at a special meeting at the United Nations Office at Nairobi to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Kenya and Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Nairobi, Barlybay Sadykov, said the country’s experience demonstrated the lasting humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear explosions.

The Semipalatinsk site, one of the world’s largest nuclear testing grounds, was permanently closed by Kazakhstan on August 29, 1991, after more than four decades of testing.

“Behind every number of explosions are people who suffered from nuclear tests. Families. Communities. Children yet to be born,” Sadykov said.

📌 What You Need to Know

Between the first test and its eventual closure, 30 atmospheric, 86 above-ground and 340 underground nuclear explosions were conducted at the site, which covered about 18,000 square kilometres.

Kazakhstan’s experience, Sadykov said, had shaped its commitment to nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the prohibition of nuclear testing.

The ambassador said the humanitarian consequences had continued across generations, including increased health problems, congenital birth defects and long-term psychological and social effects among communities living with the legacy of nuclear testing.

The environmental damage has also persisted, with radioactive contamination affecting soil and creating the need for long-term monitoring of radioactive pathways through water and the food chain.

“The tragedy of Semipalatinsk must never be repeated,” Sadykov said, calling on states to strengthen international efforts to prevent further nuclear testing and advance nuclear disarmament.

Kazakhstan’s decision to close Semipalatinsk followed the emergence in 1989 of the Semipalatinsk-Nevada Anti-Nuclear Movement under the leadership of Kazakh poet and activist Olzhas Suleimenov.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya