Pursuant to operative paragraph 4 of resolution 78/240 entitled “Addressing the legacy of nuclear weapons: providing victim assistance and environmental remediation to Member States affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons” - Views and Proposals of Kazakhstan

Pursuant to operative paragraph 4 of resolution 78/240 entitled “Addressing the legacy of nuclear weapons: providing victim assistance and environmental remediation to Member States affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons” adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2023, Kazakhstan presents herewith its views and proposals regarding efforts and ongoing needs related to victim assistance and environmental assessment and remediation to contribute to the substantiative report: 1. The territory of the former Semipalatinsk test site is located at the intersection of three regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan (the Pavlodar, Karaganda and Abai regions).1 Its total area is 18,311.4 km2. 2. Over 40 years, from 1949 to 1989, about 456 nuclear tests were conducted on the territory of the Semipalatinsk test site, including 30 surface, 86 aerial and 340 underground nuclear explosions. 3. The test site was closed on 29 August 1991 by decree of the President of Kazakhstan. Since then, Kazakhstan has conducted comprehensive environmental surveys of the test site and has taken measures to dismantle military infrastructure located therein. 4. In 1992, at the initiative of the United States of America and with the support of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan began the implementation of the international Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, also called the Nunn-Lugar Program. The Program contained a set of measures, including the destruction and decontamination of military infrastructure and facilities remaining on the territory of Kazakhstan after it gained independence in 1991, the dismantlement of strategic offensive weapons, the creation of an export control system, improvement of the management and control of nuclear materials and the conversion of the defence industry. 5. By 2000, the nuclear weapons testing infrastructure at the Semipalatinsk test site had been dismantled and 181 tunnels in the Degelen mountain range, 13 unused boreholes and 12 silo launchers at the Balapan site had been closed. 6. In 2020, the Experimental Field site, where 116 air and ground nuclear explosions were carried out, was brought to a safe state. 7. Today, the territory of the Semipalatinsk test site has been completely cleared of the consequences of nuclear military activities that took place before 1991. All the tunnels and wells that were intended for underground explosions of nuclear charges have been put in a condition unsuitable for their originally intended purpose. Environmental consequences 1 From 1939 to 1997, the territory of the Abai region was the territory of the Semipalatinsk region. In 1997, the Semipalatinsk region was incorporated into the East Kazakhstan region. The Abai region was established in 2022 within the territorial frontiers of the former Semipalatinsk region.