Semipalatinsk Test Site

E514983

The Semipalatinsk Test Site was the primary Soviet nuclear weapons testing ground, located in northeastern Kazakhstan and notorious for extensive radioactive contamination and long-term health impacts on local populations.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf nuclear test site ⓘ
affectedPopulation nearby rural communities ⓘ
residents of Semey region ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site ⓘ
The Polygon ⓘ
area approximately 18,000 square kilometers ⓘ
associatedMovement Nevada–Semipalatinsk anti-nuclear movement ⓘ
closedBy Nursultan Nazarbayev ⓘ
closureDate 1991-08-29 ⓘ
country Soviet Union ⓘ
environmentalImpact extensive radioactive contamination ⓘ
firstNuclearDeviceTested RDS-1 ⓘ
linked to: RDS-1 test
firstNuclearTest 1949-08-29 ⓘ
formerName Semipalatinsk-21 ⓘ
governedBy Soviet Ministry of Defense ⓘ
healthImpact genetic defects in exposed populations ⓘ
increased cancer rates in local population ⓘ
long-term radiation-related illnesses ⓘ
inception 1947 ⓘ
jurisdictionAfter1991 Republic of Kazakhstan ⓘ
linked to: Kazakhstan
legacy major public health disaster in Kazakhstan ⓘ
symbol of anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan ⓘ
locatedIn Kazakhstan ⓘ
northeastern Kazakhstan ⓘ
locatedNear Irtysh River ⓘ
Semey ⓘ
monitoringBy Kazakh authorities ⓘ
international scientific organizations ⓘ
numberOfAtmosphericTests over 100 ⓘ
numberOfTests over 450 ⓘ
numberOfUndergroundTests over 300 ⓘ
operator Soviet Armed Forces ⓘ
linked to: Soviet armed forces

Soviet nuclear weapons program ⓘ
partlyRehabilitated true ⓘ
partOf Soviet nuclear weapons complex ⓘ
postClosureUse limited economic activities under control ⓘ
radiation monitoring ⓘ
scientific research ⓘ
risk residual radioactive contamination ⓘ
significantFor Cold War nuclear arms race ⓘ
development of Soviet thermonuclear weapons ⓘ
startDate 1949-08-29 ⓘ
testPeriodEnd 1989 ⓘ
testPeriodStart 1949 ⓘ
usedFor nuclear weapons testing ⓘ
peaceful nuclear explosions ⓘ
weapons development research ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Kazakh SSR → hostedFacility → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ
Soviet thermonuclear weapons program → testSite → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ
Semipalatinsk Test Site → formerName → Semipalatinsk-21 ⓘ
linked to: Semipalatinsk Test Site
Semipalatinsk Test Site → alsoKnownAs → Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site ⓘ
linked to: Semipalatinsk Test Site
Semipalatinsk → near → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ
Semipalatinsk → hasNearbyFacility → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ
RDS-1 test → location → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ
Semey → near → Semipalatinsk Test Site ⓘ