The Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site: Through My Own Eyes

Abstract : In 1955 Doctor Saim B.Balmukhanov of the Ministry of Health visited the villages of Dolon and Sarzhal, north and west of the Semipalatinsk Test Site where USSR above ground nuclear detonations occurred. He saw similarities between the shepherds in this region and those affected by the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima. The following year he led a team of six doctors to study the region. In 1957 he influenced the Kazakhstan Academy of Science to write the Soviet Ministry of Defense regarding the adverse health effects on the public. But in 1959 he and his team were dismissed, and he was banned from visiting Semipalatinsk. However, he continued to follow the health situation and collect data. This document is an account of his personal experiences and professional findings on what happened at the test site, and its effects.