nuclear-news

Photographic exhibition of Kazakhstan’s secret atomic bomb test sites

(Photographs) These Are The Secret Sites Where The Soviet Union Exploded Atomic Bombs And Tested Radiation On Unsuspecting Russians, Business Insider 19 Sept  HARRISON JACOBS Nuclear testing, primarily at sites in the former Soviet Union, left behind a trail of radiation, chemical debris, and poisoned citizens. The locations, many of which were in Kazakhstan, were some of the most secret and well-guarded locations in the Soviet Union, until its collapse in 1991.

While researching a project on large Russian cities, photographer Nadav Kander discovered some of the testing sites on Google Earth. Fascinated by their secrecy, Kander set out to find what was left. There wasn’t much. Most had been destroyed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Kander shared a number of the photos with us here, but you can see the rest on display at the Flowers Gallery in London. “Dust,” a book of the photographs, will be released on October 31st.

Kurchatov in Eastern Kazakhstan used to be the center of operations for the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. It was a “closed city,” meaning no one could enter or exit the city without proper authorization. Kurchatov was also a “science” city, built by gulag labour and named after the Russian physicist tasked with producing the atomic bomb. At its heyday, the population was over 20,000, composed of scientists, engineers, physicists, military personnel and those who worked at the nuclear facilities. It was one of the most secretive places in the Soviet Union. The Semipalatinsk Test Site, also know as “The Polygon,” was the primary testing site for Soviet nuclear weapons. Located near Kurchatov, the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests in the area from 1949 to 1989, with little regard for radiation exposure to citizens.

September 20, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual