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 · 1949–2026

Semipalatinsk test site: measured contamination, land reallocation and the Nuclear Safety Zone

Nature's voice · report
My ground at Ground Zero and Lake Balapan was described as heavily contaminated by an IAEA assessment in 1998.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 4 not disclosed · 1 insufficient · 3 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Whether former test-site land can safely be returned to agriculture
  • Researchers IRSE director Sergey Lukashenko (2013): About 4,900 km² can be used for business activities without limitations and food grown on most of the territory is safe according to radiation parameters; tested areas will have to be monitored for a long time. Astana Times
  • Government and regulators National Nuclear Center (2022): Contamination is local; contaminated areas are freely accessible and remediation is minimal. National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan
  • Researchers Prof. Leonid Rikhvanov, Tomsk University (2013): The land should stay off-limits because plutonium could enter the food chain. Astana Times
  • Communities and civil society Karipbek Kuyukov, anti-nuclear activist (2023): The land is still dangerous and there are no fences. Inbusiness.kz

Surveys of the former Soviet test site found 429 km² of the 1,200 km² observed at Degelen and Aktan-Berli radioactively contaminated. Since 2013 Kazakhstan has moved former test-site land back into use and, from 2023, has been setting up a Nuclear Safety Zone funded by KZT 3.596bn through 2027.

429 of 1,200 km²Area of Degelen and Aktan-Berli found radioactively contaminated
“just under 36% of the total area” observed; National Nuclear Center surveys reported in Kazakhstan’s national environment report 2018–2019.

Status As of April 2026: a government resolution moved 832,900 ha into reserve lands for future inclusion in the Nuclear Safety Zone; zone set-up funding runs through 2027.

What?
Surveys of the former Soviet nuclear test site recorded radioactive contamination, including 429 km² of 1,200 km² observed at Degelen and Aktan-Berli. Kazakhstan has moved former test-site land into reserve for a Nuclear Safety Zone and, in places, back into economic use. Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan (with EC, UNEP, Zoï)
Where?
Abay (formerly East Kazakhstan), Pavlodar and Karaganda regions; Degelen massif at about 49°46′N 77°59′E and Balapan/Lake Chagan at about 49°56′N 78°29′E. IAEA
When?
Surveys by the IAEA in 1993–1994 and by the NNC in 2019; Nuclear Safety Zone law signed 5 July 2023; land resolutions of 27 March 2025 and 14 April 2026. Orda.kz
Who?
Gained
  • Altyn Group Qazaqstan — Temporary land-use rights to 31 December 2028 on 71.37 ha for a rare-earth deposit, with compensation owed to the budget for agricultural losses (amount not disclosed) Astana Times
Lost
  • Kazakhstan’s republican budget — KZT 3.596bn for the Nuclear Safety Zone through 2027, plus state programmes funding NNC monitoring (amounts not disclosed) Informburo
Harmed
Why?
Kazakhstan’s 2023 law and later resolutions set up a Nuclear Safety Zone on former test-site land and release other parts for economic use; the NNC named reserve-land management, free access and minimal remediation as problems. National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan
How?
Government resolutions move land between reserve, zone and industrial categories; zone land and infrastructure are state property and not subject to alienation. Interfax
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Semipalatinsk Test Site spans Abay (formerly East Kazakhstan), Pavlodar and Karaganda regions. The IAEA (1998) gave its area as “approximately 19 000 km2”; Astana Times, citing the Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology (IRSE), gave roughly 18,500 km² in 2013, and Interfax reported in 2023 that it exceeded 1.8 million hectares. IAEA missions in November 1993 and July 1994 found that over most of the test site there was little or no residual radioactivity, while Ground Zero and Lake Balapan were “heavily contaminated”. Daily visitors to those two places would receive annual exposures in the region of 10 mSv; permanent inhabitation would mean about 100 mSv a year, “above the action level”, and the IAEA recommended restricting access. Outside the site the dose from residual radioactivity was at most 0.1 mSv a year. Five early surface tests “were not successful and resulted in the dispersion of plutonium in the environment”; the missions “could not corroborate” reported evidence of actinide contamination from failed tests. Access to the site was “currently unrestricted” and “limited reoccupation of the site has begun”.

Kazakhstan’s National Report on the State of the Environment 2018–2019, citing National Nuclear Center (NNC) surveys, recorded that of 1,200 km² observed at Degelen and Aktan-Berli nearly 429 km² were radioactively contaminated. Tritium in Bytles Creek exceeded permissible norms by a factor of five; two areas require removal and secure disposal of 10 centimetres of topsoil; the Shagan River showed excess tritium at the 5 km and 14 km markers in 2019; in all samples from Lake Kishkensor tritium and strontium isotope levels exceeded safe levels; background radiation at Opytnoe Pole was 2–3 times allowable limits in the central and southern sectors; five radioactively contaminated objects were found at site “4a”. Caesium in saiga muscle was 111 times lower than permissible levels. No tritium or strontium contamination was identified in the adjacent territory. A peer-reviewed study in PLoS One (4 April 2024) measured tritium in Degelen stream water up to 57,000±5,000 Bq/kg and in the Shagan up to 61,500±6,000 Bq/kg, and in Degelen air up to 56±11 Bq/m³ HTO; it also found tritium in soils of the “background” area.

Land has been moved back toward economic use. In 2013 the IRSE director said about 4,900 km² around the site could be used for business activities without limitations. In 2023 Senator Olga Bulavkina put the uncontaminated land that could go into agricultural use at about 1 million hectares. President Tokayev signed the Law on the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Safety Zone and a companion amending law on 5 July 2023; zone land and infrastructure are state property and not subject to alienation. The preliminary zone covers about 6,000 km² in East Kazakhstan, 2,600 km² in Pavlodar and 800 km² in Karaganda region. Setting up the zone was put at KZT 3.596bn from the republican budget through 2027 at a Senate session on 29 June 2023.

On 27 March 2025 a government resolution moved 71.37 ha of test-site reserve land in Abay Region to the industry category; Altyn Group Qazaqstan received temporary land-use rights to 31 December 2028 for a rare-earth deposit and is required to compensate the national budget for agricultural production losses (no amount given). A resolution in force from 14 April 2026 moved 832,900 ha into reserve lands to be included in the nuclear safety zone in the future: 505,400 ha in Abay (Zhanasemey district), 285,900 ha in Pavlodar (Maysky district) and 41,600 ha in Karaganda region (Karkaraly district).

The parties describe the situation differently. The NNC (2022) said radioactive contamination is of a local nature and not concentrated throughout the entire test-site territory, and named problems: the land sits in reserve under local executive bodies, contaminated areas are freely accessible and remediation is minimal. The IRSE director said in 2013 that food grown on most of the territory is safe for humans according to radiation parameters; Prof. Leonid Rikhvanov of Tomsk University argued the land should stay off-limits because plutonium could enter the food chain; activist Karipbek Kuyukov said in 2023 that the land is still dangerous and unmarked.

  1. 1993IAEA mission (Nov); second mission July 1994
  2. 1998IAEA report STI/PUB/1063 published
  3. 2013IRSE says about 4,900 km² can be used without limitations
  4. 2019NNC survey of Degelen and Aktan-Berli; excess tritium in Shagan River and Lake Kishkensor
  5. 2022NNC publishes draft law on the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Safety Zone (2 Jun)
  6. 2023Senate session puts zone set-up at KZT 3.596bn (29 Jun); President signs the Nuclear Safety Zone law (5 Jul)
  7. 2024PLoS One study of tritium distribution published (4 Apr)
  8. 202571.37 ha moved to industrial land for a rare-earth deposit (27 Mar)
  9. 2026832,900 ha moved into reserve lands for future inclusion in the zone (in force 14 Apr)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“over most of the test site there is little or no residual radioactivity”

IAEA, Radiological Conditions at the Semipalatinsk Test Site · 1998 · IAEA

“radioactive contamination is of a local nature and not concentrated throughout the entire STS territory”

“safe for humans, according to radiation parameters”

Sergey Lukashenko, director of the Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology, on food grown on most of the territory · November 2013 · Astana Times

“No fences at all”

Karipbek Kuyukov, anti-nuclear activist (translated) · 29 June 2023 · translated from Russian · Inbusiness.kz

Where accounts differ

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

Total area of the Semipalatinsk Test Site
International bodies
IAEA (1998)

Approximately 19,000 km².

IAEA
Researchers
IRSE, via Astana Times (2013)

Roughly 18,500 km².

Astana Times
Press and investigations
Interfax (2023)

The total area exceeds 1.8 million hectares.

Interfax
Press and investigations
inbusiness.kz (2023)

Almost 2 million hectares.

Inbusiness.kz
Whether former test-site land can safely be returned to agriculture
Researchers
IRSE director Sergey Lukashenko (2013)

About 4,900 km² can be used for business activities without limitations and food grown on most of the territory is safe according to radiation parameters; tested areas will have to be monitored for a long time.

Astana Times
Government and regulators
National Nuclear Center (2022)

Contamination is local; contaminated areas are freely accessible and remediation is minimal.

National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan
Researchers
Prof. Leonid Rikhvanov, Tomsk University (2013)

The land should stay off-limits because plutonium could enter the food chain.

Astana Times
Communities and civil society
Karipbek Kuyukov, anti-nuclear activist (2023)

The land is still dangerous and there are no fences.

Inbusiness.kz

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • About 4,900 km² around the site usable “for business activities, without limitations”
    IRSE director Sergey Lukashenko, 2013 · Astana Times
  • About 1 million hectares of uncontaminated land could go into agricultural use
    Senator Olga Bulavkina, 2023 · Inbusiness.kz
  • Radioactive contamination is of a local nature
    National Nuclear Center, 2022 · National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Nuclear Safety Zone set-up from the republican budget3.6bn
Stated by Senator Olga Bulavkina at the Senate session of 29 June 2023; Informburo’s headline gives 3.5bn tenge.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: KZT · Window: Through 2027 (zone set-up). All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • nnc-kazakhstan (2 June 2022): Radioactive contamination is of a local nature and not concentrated throughout the entire test-site territory; the land sits in reserve under local executive bodies, contaminated areas are freely accessible and remediation is minimal. · National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan
  • irse-kazakhstan (November 2013): About 4,900 km² around the site can be used for business activities without limitations; food grown on most of the territory is safe for humans according to radiation parameters. · Astana Times

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.

Contaminated at Degelen and Aktan-Berli
429 of 1,200 km²
Just under 36% of the area observed (national report 2018–2019)
Tritium in Bytles Creek
5× norm
Exceeded permissible norms by a factor of five
Land moved to reserve for the zone
832,900 ha
Government resolution in force from 14 April 2026
Zone set-up budget
KZT 3.596bn
Republican budget through 2027

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Disputed Whether former test-site land can safely be returned to agriculture

Court

Accounts

  • Disputed Total area of the Semipalatinsk Test Site

Record

  • Disputed Figures differ: the site’s total area is given as about 19,000 km² (IAEA, 1998), roughly 18,500 km² (IRSE via Astana Times, 2013), over 1.8 million hectares (Interfax, 2023) and almost 2 million hectares (inbusiness.kz, 2023).
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the amounts of the state programmes “Ensuring the Security of the former test site at Semipalatinsk” and “Ensuring Radiation Security on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, which fund National Nuclear Center monitoring and surveys; the national environment report names them without amounts.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the compensation payable to the national budget for agricultural production losses on the 71.37 ha rare-earth plot.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the number of the April 2026 government resolution moving 832,900 ha into reserve lands.
  • Insufficient Insufficient: air monitoring; the national environment report states that the existing system is not equipped for long-term forecasting and that the number of monitoring posts is insufficient to provide reliable data on atmospheric radioactive contamination.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the sampling year of the 2024 PLoS One tritium study (summer sampling).
  • Unclear Unclear: how much former test-site land has been released to farmers, in hectares and by date.
  • None on record None on record: insurance cover connected with the contamination.

Did the harm stop?

The last explosion was in 1989; the site was closed on 29 August 1991. The 2018–2019 national report records tritium and background radiation above limits at several locations, and the Nuclear Safety Zone is being set up.

Who paid?

Kazakhstan’s republican budget funds the Nuclear Safety Zone (KZT 3.596bn through 2027) and the National Nuclear Center’s monitoring programmes. The rare-earth plot user is required to compensate the budget for agricultural production losses; no amount is disclosed.

Sources

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

Government and regulators

  1. National Report on the State of the Environment 2018–2019: Semipalatinsk Test Site
    Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan (with EC, UNEP, Zoï) · 2020
  2. Draft law about “Semipalatinsk Nuclear Safety Zone”
    National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan · 2022-06-02

Press and investigations

Researchers

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

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Law and courts

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