the atom project

SIGN ON FOR A NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-FREE WORLD

T H E A T O M P R O J E C T . O R G

TAP2014_Brochure.indd 1 7/24/14 2:41 PM

THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS ON AUGUST 29 WAS ESTABLISHED TO COINCIDE WITH THE DATE OF THE CLOSING OF THE SEMIPALATINSK NUCLEAR TEST SITE BY PRESIDENT NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV OF KAZAKHSTAN IN 1991. BETWEEN 1949 AND 1989, THE SOVIET UNION CONDUCTED ALMOST 500 NUCLEAR TESTS AT THIS TEST SITE IN EASTERN KAZAKHSTAN, WHICH ADVERSELY AFFECTED THE HEALTH AND LIVES OF ONE AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE. SINCE 2010, THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS IS COMMEMORATED GLOBALLY.



There are people in the world who struggle every day with what nuclear

weapons testing has done to their bodies, their minds and their spirits.

They do not exist in faded photos of a cold war past. They do not exist

in history books or in the imaginations of screen writers. They live

all over the world: In the United States. In the Marshall Islands. In

Japan. In Russia. And in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, where almost

500 nuclear test sites were conducted from 1949 to 1991.

These survivors of nuclear weapons testing are the living legacy

of The Polygon, the Soviet-era Nuclear Weapons Testing Site in

Semipalatinsk — they are the human evidence of the damage caused

by radioactive nuclear fallout. Some are children who cannot speak

out for themselves due to disabilities and illness. Some are young

adults who, although challenged with physical and developmental

limitations, still want to enjoy all the things any young person loves to

do. Some are adults who have overcome overwhelming odds to carve

out their niche in life. So far, three generations of people from Semey,

as Semipalatinsk is known today, have suffered from cancer, severe

deformities and illness caused by radioactive nuclear fallout. Most

residents of Semey do not live past 60 years of age. These survivors

have names and families and stories. Their humanity is evident in

their eyes and in their lives. But many are unable to stand up, let their

voices be heard and be counted in this world.

Their parents and grandparents did not know that when they went

outside and saw the sky light up with explosions, and the mushroom

cloud hovering over the endless steppe, they were part of a devastating

experiment that would affect them, their children and generations to

come.

If you knew today, that someday your grandchildren would suffer the

effects of nuclear radiation due to nuclear weapons testing or as the

result of nuclear terrorism, wouldn’t you try to stop it?

NOW YOU KNOW.


UNITED WE COUNTThe ATOM Project is an international initiative to build global

support for a permanent end to nuclear weapons testing ultimately

leading to the total abolition of nuclear weapons. The ATOM Project

was launched at a parliamentary assembly in Astana, Kazakhstan

on August 29, 2012, the UN International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

Organizers of the Project recognize that in recent decades the

cause of abolishing nuclear weapons and weapons testing, and

the awareness of the fundamental dangers they pose to life on

the planet have become superseded by other humanitarian and

environmental issues. Arguably, however, abolishing nuclear

weapons is the biggest environmental and humanitarian cause of all.

The time has come to revive among governments and people

around the world an awareness of how dangerous and appalling

the consequences of the testing, retention and proliferation of

nuclear arsenals has been, and of the threats that their continued

possession poses to the human race, particularly after the largest

ever terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011.

To that end, The ATOM Project seeks to share documented reports

of scientists, doctors and nuclear experts from around the world

about the medical and environmental costs of nuclear weapons

production, testing and deployment. The ATOM Project ONLINE

PETITION is the vehicle through which people can take concrete

action to end all nuclear weapons testing and abolish nuclear

weapons. With just one click, citizens of the world can sign the

international ATOM Project petition, uniting their voices to send the

world’s leaders a clear message: Abolish nuclear weapons testing

and nuclear weapons, forever.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERSThe Petition, which exists online at www.TheATOMProject.org,

has garnered international support and attention. Individuals from

more than 100 countries have signed on for a nuclear-weapons-

free world, and when the petition reaches a critical mass it will be

presented to leaders of the world’s nuclear states. When the people

of the world speak together, when we stand united, the seeds of

change take root and our political leaders are forced into action.

History has borne this out. The non-violence movement started by

Mahatma Gandhi, the end of apartheid led by Nelson Mandela and

the civil rights movement championed by Martin Luther King Jr. all

prove that sea change is not only necessary, it is possible. And while



there is strength in every one of us, so too, is there an even bigger

strength in numbers.

The ATOM Project will bring attention to the plight of as many as

15 million victims of radiation poisoning that are estimated to be

suffering today in countries such as Kazakhstan, the Marshall Islands,

Japan, Algeria and others. And then, we will multiply hope, one click

at a time.

Increasing global awareness about the threat of already existing

nuclear weapons arsenals and promoting an international petition

that will enable people around the world to directly express their

position on the nuclear disarmament issue are primary goals of the

Project. The ATOM Project believes strong public support for the

Project will translate to strong public support for non-governmental

organizations (NGOs), parliamentarians and activists in order to

help them reach their goal of influencing the leaders of major

nations to achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world

“FROM DAY TO DAY, THE RADIATION POISONED OUR STEPPES, RIVERS AND LAKES, SLOWLY KILLING ALL LIFE IN THE AREA. THIS NUCLEAR EVIL DESTROYED THE LIVES AND HEALTH OF MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING IN THE VICINITY OF THE TEST SITE. THE EFFECTS OF THE NUCLEAR TESTS ARE BEING FELT TO THIS DAY.”NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV, PRESIDENT OF KAZAKHSTAN


“MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE HAVE DIED FROM THE RADIATION FROM THE NUCLEAR TESTS. IN ONE FAMILY, FIRST THE FATHER, THEN THE MOTHER THEN ALL THE CHILDREN PASSED AWAY — THE WHOLE FAMILY OF 10. I MYSELF HAVE NO ARMS TO HUG YOU, BUT I HAVE A HEART AS BIG AS THE OPEN SPACE OF KAZAKHSTAN READY TO EMBRACE THE WORLD FOR PEACE AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT.”

KARIPBEK KUYUKOV,

HONORARY ATOM PROJECT AMBASSADOR, ARTIST

AND SECOND GENERATION SURVIVOR OF SOVIET

NUCLEAR TESTS IN KAZAKHSTAN



The children who were born deformed to the inhabitants of Eastern

Kazakhstan who lived within the fallout region during the 40 years

of Soviet nuclear testing bear eloquent witness to the horrific human

reality of suffering resulting from weapons testing.

Trapped in a body of a three-year-old, 13-year-old Valikhan

Serikkaliev suffers from osteogenisis imperfecta leaving him unable

to walk and with severe bone deformity and abnormally small

stature. His condition is incurable.

Dina Batyrova’s illness is also a tragic example of the damage that

nuclear weapons testing can cause. Dina is five years old and

suffers from hydranencephaly, a condition in which the cerebral

hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with fluid.

Because Dina’s head is nearly the size of her body, she must lie

down at all times. But Dina is conscious and aware. She smiles and

often tries to wave when she sees other people.

Five-year-old Rustam Zhanabayev lives in a foster home. His

genetic deformities were so severe that he was abandoned at birth

by his parents. He was diagnosed with malfunction of the brain and

hydranencephaly at the stage of decompensation. He will spend his

life in a wheelchair and is unable to move his head because it is too

heavy for his body.

These survivors of nuclear weapons testing are the living legacy of

The Polygon, the Soviet-era Nuclear Weapons Test Site in

Semipalatinsk — they are the human evidence of the damage

caused by radioactive nuclear fallout. Some are children who

cannot speak out for themselves due to disabilities and illness.

Some are young adults who, although challenged with physical

and developmental limitations, still want to enjoy all the things any

young person loves to do. Some are adults who have overcome

overwhelming odds to carve out their niche in life.

So far, three generations of people from Semey, as Semipalatinsk

is known today, have suffered from cancer, severe deformities

and illness caused by radioactive nuclear fallout. Most residents

of Semey do not live past 60 years of age. These survivors have

names and families and stories. Their humanity is evident in their

eyes and in their lives. But many are unable to stand up, let their

voices be heard and be counted in this world.

Their parents and grandparents did not know that when they went

outside and saw the sky light up with explosions and the mushroom

cloud hovering over the endless steppe, that they were part of a

devastating experiment that would affect them, their children and

generations to come.

Today, they are united in their desire to see a permanent end to

nuclear weapons testing and the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

You can join with these survivors and be counted as we unite to

put an end to nuclear weapons testing and make the world nuclear

weapons free.

MOMENTS OF TRUTH AND LIGHT:SURVIVOR STORIES FROM THE SEMIPALATINISK TEST SITE


WHOLE FAMILIES SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR RADIATION THEY WERE UNWITTINGLY EXPOSED TO DURING THE TESTING AT SEMIPALATINSK.

Gulnara Kynasheva, b. 1965

Akhsuat Village, Abai Region, Semey,

Eastern Kazakhstan

Gulnara’s health has been badly affected

by exposure to nuclear radiation, a

consequence of nuclear weapons testing.

She suffers from goiter, as well as chronic

bronchitis. Gunara’s two sons also suffer

from the effects of nuclear radiation. Her

oldest son has severe vision problems and

her younger son was born with intracranial

pressure. So far, three generations of

Semey residents have lived with the effects

of the testing that was carried out from

1949 to 1991 in the region.

Indira Nizamiyeva, b. 1967

Beskaragai District, Semey Region,

Eastern Kazakhstan

Indira was born with various bone issues.

She spends most of her time in the hospital,

trying to find the best treatment for her

medical issues. While she believes that the

tests “must have been needed for science,”

she knows the results of the nuclear testing

were tragic.

Dulat Kulshymanov, b. 1984

Karauyl Village, Abai District, Semey Region,

Eastern Kazakhstan

Twenty-seven-year-old Dulat suffers

from congenial kyphoscoliosis or severe

curvature of the spine. Dulat says he

often ponders what life would be like if he

were “like everyone else,” but despite the

challenges he faces each day, Dulat has

dedicated himself to learning new things

and adapting his daily life to overcome even

the most difficult obstacles. He has even

learned to ride a bicycle. Abylai Berikov, b. 1994

Kundizdi Village, Abai District, Semey

Region, Eastern Kazakhstan

Abylai Berikov is a music student at Mukan

Tleubayev Musical College in Semey,

Kazakhstan. He is also a victim of nuclear

weapons testing. “I heard about the tests

from my parents, saw it on TV and read

about it on the Internet. Myself, I am the

evidence of the consequences of harm

these test cause to human health. I suffer

from congenial kyphoscoliosis, or severe

curvature of the spine. It’s painful to walk,

to even move a little bit. But the strongest

pain I feel is when I see peoples’ looks.

Once there was a group of young people

who were looking at me and laughing at

me — that was one of the most painful

things in my life. I want to be perceived as a

normal member of a community. I practice

music and I want others to see not only the

imperfection of my body, but the beauty

of my soul as well. My aim is to learn as

much as possible, so as to distract from the

sickness. I will compose my songs, play my

musical instruments and hope that nowhere

else on earth will such test sites exist — so

people will never again suffer from the

disastrous power of these weapons.”

“I PRACTICE MUSIC AND I WANT OTHERS TO SEE NOT ONLY THE IMPERFECTION OF MY BODY, BUT THE BEAUTY OF MY SOUL.”

Nurly Ardakkyzy, b. 1999

Karaul Village, Abai Region, Semey,

Eastern Kazakhstan

Nurly is a beautiful young girl with shining

eyes. Nurly is calm and poised — and she



is talented. She likes to sing and dance

with her friends. Nurly is also a victim of

nuclear weapons testing who has Pitofizor

dwarfism. For Nurly, that means that

although she is 13 years old, she appears

to be about seven years of age. Her growth

and development have been stunted, and

she is currently in the second grade, many

grades below her peers. Nurly lives with,

and is being raised by, her grandparents

who work hard to provide her with a good

education, warmth and love.

THIRTEEN YEAR OLD NURLY LIKES TO SING AND DANCE WITH HER FRIENDS, IN SPITE OF THE CHALLENGES SHE FACES.

Amangali Musagaliuly, b. 1942

Arkhat Village, Abai District, Semey Region,

Eastern Kazakhstan

Amangali was just a young boy during the

weapons testing in Eastern Kazakhstan, but

he recalls those days with extreme clarity

and raw emotion. “In August 1953, it was

announced that we were to be moved

due to nuclear weapons tests. Right on

the next day we packed our belongings

and were taken 50 kilometers away from

our village. I was only a little boy and it

was of great interest to me. I witnessed the

explosions myself. When tests were held,

the sky turned red and we saw a nuclear

mushroom. The next day, we went back in

our homes. We were told that the tests had

ended. In 1970, we were sent to the area

of the test site for haymaking. The grass

was burned, we found twisted railways and

damage. Until 1992, I worked in this area.

Once my compatriots told me they saw

something on the side of the mountains.

When we went there to check it, we saw

tanks, cars, etc., which I believe were put

there to test how they would sustain a burst

wave.”

“I WANT PEOPLE TO LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY.”

Amangali and his friends didn’t realize at

the time what they were witnessing. They

had no way of knowing about the threat to

their health. “Today, I can feel myself how

it all affected my health,” says Amangali.

“I have been in the hospital already for

five months. Doctors said that I have

spots in my lungs. All this is connected

with my exposure to radiation. I wish for

future generations to be healthy and for

sicknesses not to be transmitted further

to our children and grandchildren. I want

people to live in peace and harmony.”

SEMEY ORPHANAGE Symbat Abdikarimova, Director

Symbat has worked at the Semey

Orphanage for 13 years. She sees first-

hand, every day, the damage that nuclear

weapons testing can do. She sees it in the

faces and bodies of the children she cares

for.

She believes that the children from this

region will experience health problems

caused by nuclear weapons testing

for many generations due to the gene

mutations caused by the nuclear fallout.

There are 80 children in the orphanage

suffering from various pathologies,

deformities and disabilities. The etymologies

of their medical issues sometimes cannot

be defined clearly, but Symbat has seen

enough to believe that these problems

were ultimately caused by exposure to

nuclear radiation and the resulting genetic

mutations that have been passed down

through generations.

THE SURVIVORS OF THE POLYGON HAVE NOW SHARED THEIR STORIES WITH THE WORLD. TELL THEM YOU HEAR THEIR WISHES FOR PEACE, YOU KNOW THEIR PRAYERS FOR HOPE, AND YOU BELIEVE IN A NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-FREE WORLD TODAY— AND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

SIGN ON TODAY FOR A NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-FREE WORLD AT THEATOMPROJECT.ORG


THE GLOBAL NUCLEAR

1934 - Leó Szilárd patents concept of nuclear chain reaction.

1939 - January - Otto Robert Frisch confirms Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman’s discovery of nuclear fission.

1940 - April - Military Application of Uranium Detonation Committee investigates feasibility of an atomic bomb.

1941 - February - Plutonium discovered.

1942 - August-November - The Manhattan Project established.

1945 - July - The first nuclear explosion, the Trinity test, occurs near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1945 - August 6 - “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

1945 - August 9 - “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

1949 - August - The Soviet Union conducts its first atomic test, First Lightning.

1949 - The Soviet nuclear weapons program chose a test site outside the Kazakhstan city of Semipalatinsk. From 1949 until 1989, 456 nuclear weapons tests were conducted at the site.

1951 - China and the Soviet Union sign an agreement whereby China would supply uranium ore in exchange for assistance producing nuclear weapons.

1952 - October - The United Kingdom conducts Operation Hurricane, the first test of a British nuclear weapon, detonated in a lagoon between the Montebello Islands, Western Australia.

1952 - November - The United States test the first fusion bomb, “Ivy Mike”.

1953 - The first nuclear-tipped rockets deployed by the United States.

1953 - August - The Soviet Union conducts its first test of a hydrogen bomb.

1954 - February - The United States detonates its first deliverable thermonuclear weapon at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, leading to the worst radiological disaster in U.S. history.

1956 - The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is established.

1957 - July - The International Atomic Energy Agency is founded.

1960 - February - France successfully tests a nuclear weapon, in the French Sahara.

1961 - October - The Soviet Union detonates Tsar Bomba, the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.

1964 - October - China successfully tests an atomic bomb at Lop Nur.

1965 - January - The Soviet Union detonates Chagan.

1967 - June - China successfully tests a hydrogen bomb.

1968 - July - The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opens for signatures. This treaty is intended to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. To date, 189 countries have signed the treaty, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Only India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed the treaty (as sovereign states).

1974 - May - India tests its first nuclear device, “Smiling Buddha”, at Pokhran.

1991 - South Africa signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

1991 - August - President Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic shuts down the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, where 42 years earlier the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test. Four months later, the Soviet Union collapses.

1991 - December - Kazakhstan and the U.S. establish full diplomatic relations. The fate of the nuclear arsenal in Kazakhstan is a top priority for both countries.

1991 - The Soviet Union ceases to exist. Kazakhstan inherits the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal.

1992 - May - Kazakhstan signs Lisbon Protocol to the Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I Treaty), renouncing possession of nuclear weapons and accepting responsibility for ensuring nuclear non-proliferation.

1992 - July - Kazakhstan’s Parliament ratifies START I Treaty.

1993 - December - Kazakhstan’s Parliament ratifies the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

1993 - President Nursultan Nazarbayev and U.S. Vice President Albert Gore sign the Framework Agreement, opening the way for implementation of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (Nunn-Lugar program) in Kazakhstan.

1994 – November - 581 kg of highly-enriched uranium, enough to produce 20-25 nuclear warheads, are moved to the United States from the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Kazakhstan under Project Sapphire, a Kazakhstan-U.S. secret operation.

TIMELINE



1995 - May - The last nuclear device is destroyed at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan through a conventional explosion.

1998 - May - India tests five more nuclear weapons as part of Operation Shakti at the Pokhran test site.

1998 - May - Pakistan detonates five highly-enriched uranium nuclear weapons in the Chagai Hills.

1999 - September - The Tokyo Conference on Semipalatinsk is held resulting in a decision to implement 38 rehabilitation projects in the Semipalatinsk region.

2000 - July - The last test tunnel (out of 181 tunnels and 13 unused test holes) is destroyed at the Degelen Mountain complex at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

2002 - January - A joint Kazakhstan- U.S. project--a public-private sector partnership-- starts separating low-enriched uranium from uranium concentrate.

2002 - February - The joint project begins to securely transport fresh highly-enriched uranium fuel from the BN-350 reactor to blend it down at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant.

2003 - North Korea announces that it has several nuclear explosives.

2005 - September - Kazakhstan accedes to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

2005 - December - The U.N. General Assembly unanimously adopts a resolution calling upon the international community to continue to support the rehabilitation of the Semipalatinsk region and its population.

2006 - May - Kazakhstan and the U.S. sign an agreement under the Second Line of Defense programme calling for greater cooperation in preventing illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.

2006 - July - Kazakhstan becomes one of the founding members of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism announced by Russia and the U.S.

2006 - October - North Korea tests a nuclear weapon for the first time.

2007 - July - Astana hosts the 3rd meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

2009 -December 2 - The United Nations General Assembly unanimously passes the resolution proclaiming August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

2012 - January 1 - The International Atomic Energy Agency approves Kazakhstan to host the world’s first international nuclear fuel bank at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk in eastern Kazakhstan.

2012 - March 26-27 - At the 2nd Global Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Barack Obama of the United States announce the completion of all major work to ensure the safety of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

2012 - August 28-30 - The conference “From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World” takes place in Astana and Semey.

2012 - August 29 - President Nursultan Nazarbayev launches The ATOM Project, a global petition campaign for a nuclear-weapons- free world.

2012 - October - Kazakh, U.S. and Russian experts announce the completion of a multi-year project to permamently seal dozens of test tunnels at the former Semipalatinsk test site, securing hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium left there as residue from the dozens of underground nuclear weapon tests, thus ensuring the permanent safety of these materials.

2013 - The ATOM Project holds events and symposia throughout the year under the theme “Looking for Peace” in Moscow, New York, Washington, DC, Tokyo and Berlin. On August 29, the ATOM Project stages a global Minute of Silence to commemorate all the victims of the nuclear tests conducted around the world.

2013 - November - The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan hold an international conference “Nuclear Security in the Modern World. Role of Parliamentarians in Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation in Saing Petersburg, Russia, where The ATOM Project receives a strong endorsement.

2014 - February - The ATOM Project is presented at an event in the U.S. Senate in Washington, DC, urging the lawmakers to support the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

2014 - March - More than 50 heads of state and goverment and leaders of international organizations gather in The Hague for the 3rd Global Nuclear Security Summit, pledging to enhance cooperation in ensuring the security of their nuclear materials.

“I BELIEVE IT IS SAFE TO CLAIM THAT THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF NUCLEAR TESTS IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 2 MILLION AND 6 MILLION DEATHS, AND UP TO 20 MILLION PEOPLE WITH SEVERE HEALTH IMPACTS, INCLUDING CANCERS (SOME OF WHICH ARE TREATABLE, BUT CAN REDUCE QUALITY OF LIFE) AND BIRTH DEFECTS.”ALYN WARE, GLOBAL COORDINATOR, PARLAMENTARIANS FOR NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION & DISARMAMENT



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