Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / War and military activity · Kazakhstan · 1996–2012

Degelen Mountain plutonium security operation (United States–Kazakhstan–Russia)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 2 not measured · 2 disputed See the gaps

A US-managed, three-country operation secured plutonium left in test tunnels and boreholes at the Degelen massif of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. The White House put the estimated cost at $150 million over eight years; a Belfer Center report describes a 17-year, $150 million operation.

$150 M estimateEstimated total cost of the trilateral operation (White House, 2012)
“over eight years” per the White House fact sheet; the Belfer Center describes “a 17-year, $150 million operation”.

Status As of March 2012: the three governments announced completion of the Degelen nonproliferation work; the Belfer Center published its account in August 2013.

What?
A US-managed, three-country operation secured plutonium left in test tunnels and boreholes at the Degelen massif of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. The White House (Obama administration archive)
Where?
Degelen massif, Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan, at about 49°46′N 77°59′E. IAEA
When?
1996–2012 (monument inscription and Belfer framing); sealing of tunnels 1997–2000; trilateral project from 2005; completion announced 26–27 March 2012. The White House (Obama administration archive)
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The fact sheet states that over a dozen weapons’ worth of nuclear material likely remained at the site. The White House (Obama administration archive)
How?
The Department of Defense’s CTR Program managed the work with technical support from LANL; the Belfer report says it rested on ad-hoc agreements struck at a lower level. The White House (Obama administration archive)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The operation focused on plutonium left in test tunnels and boreholes at the Degelen massif of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. According to a White House fact sheet of 26 March 2012, over “a dozen weapons’ worth” of nuclear material likely remained at the site and more than 40 tunnels posed enough risk to be included in the work plan.

Under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programme, the US Department of Defense sealed 181 test tunnels and 13 test shafts in 1997–2000 and ran three smaller projects in other areas of the site in 2002–2005. A trilateral project with Kazakhstan and Russia was initiated in 2005 and, after an April 2009 US initiative, was completed “almost two years ahead of the original schedule”, according to the fact sheet. The fact sheet states that the Department of Defense’s CTR Program “managed the project for the United States, with technical support from LANL” (Los Alamos National Laboratory), and that the US also gave equipment and training to Kazakhstani security forces. The three presidents announced completion at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on 26–27 March 2012.

A report by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harrell and Hoffman, 15 August 2013) says the work was “based almost entirely on ad-hoc agreements struck at a lower level”, was paused around 9/11, and that Russia revealed only in 2005 that as much as 100 kg of additional plutonium was still unsecured. The Belfer Center paper states that the three governments decided not to involve the IAEA. A monument carries the inscription “1996-2012. The world has become safer.”

The fact sheet gives the “estimated total cost of $150 M over eight years” and says the project was completed within budget. It describes the project as “by far the most extensive nuclear security project at STS”. The Belfer authors called the outcome a “very close call”. The two sources frame the $150 million over different periods: eight years in the White House account, 17 years (1996–2012) in the Belfer title.

  1. 1996Start of the 1996–2012 period named on the monument inscription
  2. 2000181 test tunnels and 13 test shafts sealed under CTR (1997–2000)
  3. 2005Trilateral project initiated; Russia reveals as much as 100 kg of additional unsecured plutonium
  4. 2009April US initiative; project later completed almost two years ahead of schedule
  5. 2012Three presidents announce completion at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit (26–27 Mar); White House fact sheet (26 Mar)
  6. 2013Belfer Center report “Plutonium Mountain” published (15 Aug)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“estimated total cost of $150 M over eight years”

“by far the most extensive nuclear security project at STS”

“based almost entirely on ad-hoc agreements struck at a lower level”

“very close call”

“1996-2012. The world has become safer.”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Period over which the $150 million was spent
Government and regulators
White House fact sheet (2012)

“estimated total cost of $150 M over eight years”.

The White House (Obama administration archive)
Researchers
Belfer Center (2013)

“a 17-year, $150 million operation” (1996–2012).

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harrell, Hoffman)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Estimated total cost of the operation, as stated by the White House; the fact sheet states that the Department of Defense’s CTR Program managed the project for the United States$150m
Currency: USD · Window: Over eight years (White House); 1996–2012 (Belfer). All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • us-department-of-defense (26 March 2012): Its Cooperative Threat Reduction Program managed the project for the United States, with technical support from Los Alamos National Laboratory. · The White House (Obama administration archive)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Tunnels sealed
181
Plus 13 test shafts, 1997–2000 (CTR)
Estimated cost
$150 M
“over eight years” (White House); 17 years (Belfer)
Plutonium revealed in 2005
up to 100 kg
Additional plutonium Russia said was still unsecured (Belfer)

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court case

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Court

Accounts

  • Disputed Period over which the $150 million was spent

Record

  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: a breakdown of the $150 million, and any Russian or Kazakh cost share.
  • Disputed Disputed: the period of the $150 million — “over eight years” (White House fact sheet) against a “17-year, $150 million operation” (Belfer Center).
  • None on record None on record: court or arbitration proceedings; the work rested on ad-hoc agreements rather than a formal treaty.
  • None on record None on record: insurance connected with the operation.
  • Not measured Not measured: environmental effects of the operation; its purpose was security, and environmental data for Degelen are recorded in the contamination case.

Did the harm stop?

Sealing of 181 test tunnels and 13 test shafts was completed by 2000; completion of the trilateral project was announced by the three presidents on 26–27 March 2012.

Who paid?

The White House fact sheet gives an estimated total cost of $150 million over eight years and states that the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program managed the project for the United States. Not disclosed: Russian and Kazakh cost shares.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers✓ International bodies

Government and regulators

Researchers

  1. Plutonium Mountain: Inside the 17-Year Mission to Secure a Legacy of Soviet Nuclear Testing
    Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harrell, Hoffman) · 2013-08-15
  2. New report reveals details of US-Russian-Kazakh collaboration
    Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs · 2013-08

International bodies

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.

Science and environment

PFOA (C8) and PFAS
PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.
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