Twenty years ago today, Kazakhstan closed a dark chapter in its nuclear history by officially shutting down the infamous Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in the northeast Kazakh steppe. Over a 40-year period, the Soviet Union conducted more than a quarter of the world's nuclear tests at the site. Today, locals live with the lasting legacy of the horrendous tests -- birth defects, cancer, and deeply irradiated soil and water.
The Dark Legacy Of Semipalatinsk
![The first Soviet nuclear test at Semipalatinsk on August 29, 1949](https://gdb.rferl.org/8fd7755d-f29c-459c-8155-846f5849796b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The first Soviet nuclear test at Semipalatinsk on August 29, 1949
![An "atomic" lake formed from a crater remaining after a series of nuclear explosions in the Semipalatinsk region.](https://gdb.rferl.org/3cd9594f-c6f7-4164-a660-cb9978628965_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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An "atomic" lake formed from a crater remaining after a series of nuclear explosions in the Semipalatinsk region.
![The village of Sarzhal, located near the Semipalatinsk nuclear field](https://gdb.rferl.org/36e89f5a-bd73-414f-8dc5-892e9e21bd48_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The village of Sarzhal, located near the Semipalatinsk nuclear field
![The soil near a crater formed by a nuclear explosion still has dangerous exposure readings.](https://gdb.rferl.org/a5c71b05-a8e3-4c92-ae8a-0ac9d37418e6_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The soil near a crater formed by a nuclear explosion still has dangerous exposure readings.
![Ualikhan Serikkaliev is one of many local children born with birth defects attributed to the nuclear tests. (October 2009 photo)](https://gdb.rferl.org/b897afe9-0fc4-48b7-abbf-c210fd625410_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Ualikhan Serikkaliev is one of many local children born with birth defects attributed to the nuclear tests. (October 2009 photo)
![UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) visits the museum at the Semipalatinsk test site on April 6, 2010.](https://gdb.rferl.org/56ff52ef-4a43-453e-bca9-d60eccad4c34_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) visits the museum at the Semipalatinsk test site on April 6, 2010.
![An entrance to a bunker at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site](https://gdb.rferl.org/97dc9228-b1e1-42a4-9f4e-88fb73b13ec0_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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An entrance to a bunker at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site
![Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stands before a monument to the nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk in June 2009.](https://gdb.rferl.org/2afbfa01-5e5c-4f76-b2c1-f8b0fdae2388_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stands before a monument to the nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk in June 2009.
![A giant cloud of black smoke arises as Kazakhstan's last nuclear weapons test site is put out of action with a bang in July 2000. The former Soviet republic blew up the sole remaining test tunnel at Semipalatinsk with 90 tons of explosives.](https://gdb.rferl.org/8b53b4f9-a738-4078-8a7e-7d68bc8ecac6_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A giant cloud of black smoke arises as Kazakhstan's last nuclear weapons test site is put out of action with a bang in July 2000. The former Soviet republic blew up the sole remaining test tunnel at Semipalatinsk with 90 tons of explosives.