Life and Resilience Around Kazakhstan’s Former Soviet Nuclear Test Site

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:38:00 +0200

The article explores daily life and collective resilience among residents of villages near the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, known as the Polygon, in eastern Kazakhstan. Once the core of the Soviet nuclear program, this contaminated region witnessed over 450 nuclear tests from 1949 to 1989, leaving long-lasting radioactive effects on land and people. The story centers on the experiences of Burkut, a 78‑year‑old villager, and others who survived decades of radiation exposure. Despite widespread illness and elevated cancer rates, locals have developed a strong sense of mutual aid and self‑sufficiency, sharing food, water, fuel, and labor to endure harsh conditions. Anthropologist fieldwork portrays these communities as forming an “atomic collective,” bound by both contamination and social abandonment after the Soviet collapse. While the Kazakh government recognizes over a million radiation victims, support is minimal and cleanup efforts nonexistent. Many residents embrace adapt