29 AUGUST – THE DATE OF CLOSURE OF THE SEMIPALATINSK NUCLEAR TEST SITE

August 29 is a historic date for the Republic of Kazakhstan, the world community and the global anti-nuclear movement. On this day in 1991, the President of the Kazakh SSR Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree "On closing the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site", the second most powerful in the world, after the test site in Nevada..

The decision of Elbassy fell on a difficult historical period when Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, the leadership of which had many opponents of such a bold step.

The closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was a long-awaited and fateful decision that the Kazakh people had been waiting for forty years. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, 1.5 million people were affected by the consequences of nuclear weapons tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. In the city of Semey and its environs, the cancer rate was 263.3 people per 100,000 population, with a national rate of 184.

If we talk about the history of the Semipalatinsk test site, it should be noted that on August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted the first nuclear test. From 1949 to 1989, at least 456 nuclear tests, as well as dozens of hydro-nuclear and hydrodynamic tests were conducted on the land sacred to the Kazakhs, the birthplace of the great poet and thinker Abai Kunanbayev.

The last explosion on the land of Kazakhstan was made on October 4, 1989. Two dates as on a tombstone: 29.08.1949 - 04.10.1989. And between them are dry and terrible statistics.

The Republic of Kazakhstan became the first country in world history to close a deadly nuclear test site and voluntarily renounce its weapons of mass destruction.

The historic decision of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbassy Nursultan Nazarbayev regarding the non-nuclear status of the country was appreciated by the world community. On February 14, 1994, in the city of Washington (USA), Kazakhstan joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear state. In 1995, the Republic of Kazakhstan was admitted as an observer at the UN Conference on Disarmament. Kazakhstan actively participated in the development and adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and was one of the first to sign it on 30 September 1996.

Kazakhstan has earned recognition in the world for an unprecedented act of closing a nuclear test site. Kazakhstan's peacemaking example inspired the UN General Assembly on December 2, 2009, to proclaim August 29 as the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

By decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 3, 2019, No. 467, August 29 is included in the list of dates marked in the country as the Day of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the decision made by the First President of Kazakhstan. The bold and uncompromising decision of Nursultan Nazarbayev inspired respect among the leaders of the movement for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. For the world community, the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was a landmark event and marked the beginning of the development of the world anti-nuclear movement.

The activities of the First President of Kazakhstan in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons played a huge role in ensuring global and regional security.

At the initiative of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbassy Nursultan Nazarbayev, five Central Asian states - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan - renounced the production, acquisition, testing and possession of nuclear weapons and established a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Central Asian region. The Treaty on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia was signed on September 8, 2006, in the Kazakhstan city of Semey (former Semipalatinsk), which became a deeply symbolic act. The Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone has become one of the five regional nuclear-weapon-free zones located in Latin America, the South Pacific, South-East Asia and Africa.

Over these years, Kazakhstan has come a long way from a young state in international relations to an active and authoritative member of the international community.

In the modern world, the name of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbassy Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev is strongly associated with a noble humanistic mission - freeing the planet from weapons of mass destruction and building a world free of nuclear weapons.

In his speeches, N. Nazarbayev always emphasizes that the closure of the test site is the fulfillment of the will of the people of Kazakhstan. "Kazakhstan, which closed the test site, renounced nuclear weapons, and helped all mankind breathe freely. Imagine, so many weapons in such a state. It could have come into the hands of anyone. Today I am the President, maybe another President. With what mood, who will come and what will happen to my country, and what will be the attitude? Therefore, we made a well-considered decision to remove those missiles, and exchange long-range bombers for military aircraft that we needed, for military equipment, and sell the fuel in the warheads of nuclear missiles, get money for it and get investment," N. Nazarbayev said in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo News in November 2016.

Anti-nuclear activities and the personal contribution of Elbassy remain the most important element of the process of strengthening global and regional security and include historically significant decisions, initiatives, events and works: the decision to close the world's second-largest test site for weapons of mass destruction, the rejection of the fourth largest military nuclear arsenal, the creation of a regional nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, and successful mediation in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, entering into all fundamental international treaties in the field of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful use of atomic energy, including the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Universal Declaration on building a world free of nuclear weapons, the strategic work "Manifesto: The World. The 21st century" - the message of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the global community, - reflecting the deep understanding of the issues of war and peace by Nursultan Nazarbayev, which has received the status of an official document of the UN General Assembly with a key message – freeing the world from nuclear weapons on the 100th anniversary of the most authoritative organization in the world, the United Nations.

For Kazakhstan, the creation of a Global anti-nuclear movement is an important task. This is the goal of the international project "ATOM" proposed in 2012 by the First President of Kazakhstan-Elbassy Nursultan Nazarbayev. This abbreviation is made up of the first letters of four English words - "Abolish Testing. Our Mission". The main mission of the Project of the First President of Kazakhstan-Elbassy is to strengthen global support for a complete ban on nuclear weapons testing.

As a firm supporter of nuclear non-proliferation, Kazakhstan is making every possible contribution to the development of peaceful nuclear energy and to the comprehensive promotion of initiatives for the safe use of nuclear energy.

The opening by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the Low-Enriched Uranium Bank on the territory of Kazakhstan is the best practical way for Kazakhstan to implement its nuclear non-proliferation policy. This Bank will allow other states to safely use the atom for peaceful purposes, preventing the need for uranium enrichment.

No such banks have ever been established in the world before. The very idea of creating the Bank is connected with the prevention of the threat of development of military nuclear programs under the guise of "peaceful atom".

The decree "On the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site" of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbassy Nursultan Nazarbayev marked the beginning of the process of forming a new world paradigm, new global thinking and attitude to nuclear weapons around the world - the transition from a policy of curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction to a policy of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has shown statesmanship by renouncing the temptation to lead a nuclear power and by taking a number of unprecedented decisions in world history.

First, Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up one of the world's largest arsenals of nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that there were supporters of preserving nuclear weapons inside the country, an unprecedented step was taken to strengthen international security. Kazakhstan became the first state in the world's history to voluntarily renounce nuclear weapons.

Second, the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, thanks to the far-sighted decision of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbassy Nursultan Nazarbayev, served as the beginning for the closure of many other nuclear test sites in the world. For many years now, the five largest test sites in the world have remained silent. One of them, the Semipalatinsk test site, has been closed forever. The other four - on Novaya Zemlya in Russia, on Mururoa Atoll (France), near lake Lob Nor in China and in the state of Nevada (USA) – are under a moratorium.

Third, the security regime of the remaining nuclear facilities and nuclear materials in Kazakhstan was ensured, and subsequently, the possibility of using the atom for peaceful purposes was restored again.

A world without nuclear weapons is real. The activities of Nursultan Nazarbayev in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons have proved that weapons of mass destruction are not a guarantee of state security. Such a guarantee is good-neighborliness, trust and the deepening cooperation of states with all their neighbors.

Sources:

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Elbassy took part in the ceremony of awarding the "Nazarbayev Prize for a world without nuclear weapons and global security" / / https://elbasy.kz/ru/news/2019-08/elbasy-prinyal-uchastie-v-ceremonii-vr...

The Nazarbayev Prize for a world without nuclear weapons and global security was awarded // https://khabar.kz/ru/news/item/114974-prisuzhdena-nazarbaevskaya-premiya...

Kazakhstan's initiatives in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, announced in Washington by N. Nazarbayev, are in the center of attention of the world community // https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=30615436#pos=8;68

The solution that changed the architecture of the world // http://presidentlibrary.kz/ru/news/reshenie-izmenivshee-arhitekturu-mira

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How many tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site // https://ru.sputniknews.kz/infographics/20180829/7018400/semipalatinskij-...

Kazakhstan and Japan define common goals to combat nuclear weapons // http://lenta.inform.kz/ru/kazahstan-i-yaponiya-opredelyayut-obschie-celi...