In May 1955, the United Nations Disarmament Commission brought together major nuclear powers, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and the Soviet Union, to engage in negotiations aimed at halting nuclear weapons testing.
The negotiations faced early challenges as conflict arose over the verification of underground testing. The Soviet Union, wary of potential spying that could expose their exaggerated claims of nuclear weapons, opposed on-site inspections. During this time, both the Soviet Union and the United States temporarily suspended nuclear tests, creating a brief period of quiet at the Semipalatinsk Polygon in Kazakhstan from November 1958 to September 1961.
However, the moratorium came to an abrupt end on August 31, 1961, when the Kremlin government announced the resumption of nuclear tests. The decision was driven by the stalled negotiations in Geneva, where the issue of international inspection of underground explosions remained unresolved. The Soviet government accused the Western powers of using verification as a pretext to prevent reaching an agreement.
While the Soviet Union defended the necessity of atmospheric tests, it did acknowledge some concerns about fallout.
The harmful effects of thermonuclear weapons tests on living organisms are well known to the Soviet Union and hence every possible step is being taken to reduce those effects to a minimum.1“Soviet Statement on Resumption of Nuclear Testing,” Current Digest of the Soviet Press 13, no. 35 (September 27, 1961): 6.
Nevertheless, the emphasis remained on national security, and the risk of fallout was deemed a lesser concern compared to the catastrophic threat of nuclear warfare.2U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Documents on Disarmament 1961 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1962), 388-389.
We do not doubt that the overwhelming majority of mankind rightly assesses the Soviet Government’s measures. Strengthening of the defense potential of the Soviet Union means at the same time strengthening peace forces throughout the world. The aggressor must know that there is a dependable force capable of defending peaceful labor, freedom, and the independence of the peoples.
The present policy of the NATO powers creates a situation in which we must fear not radioactive fallout, but that nuclear weapons themselves, in all their deadly and destructive force, are dropped on the heads of the people
It insisted that the Soviet government:
has been forced to take this step [to resume tests], the significance of which it fully appreciates, under the pressure of the international situation being created by imperialist countries. 3“Soviet Statement on Resumption of Nuclear Testing,” Current Digest of the Soviet Press 13, no. 35 (September 27, 1961): 6.
In the following two years, the world witnessed the worst fallout pollution in history. The years 1961 and 1962 alone accounted for 77 percent of the total energy yield from over 460 nuclear tests conducted in Kazakhstan, with 136 atmospheric nuclear tests conducted during this period.4Norris, Robert S. and Thomas B. Cochran. “NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS AND PEACEFUL NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS BY THE SOVIET UNION.” Natural Resource Defense Council, Inc., 1996. The impact of these tests on human health and the environment was significant.
See The Human Toll for more on the effects of radiation.
Despite the devastating consequences of nuclear tests, the desire to negotiate a test ban treaty persisted. The Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 added urgency to the negotiations. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were eager to make progress in banning nuclear tests to prevent other nations from acquiring nuclear capabilities.
To avoid the issue of on-site inspections, the decision was made to exclude underground nuclear tests from the agreement. This paved the way for the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty on August 5, 1963, by the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain. The treaty prohibited nuclear tests in outer space, the atmosphere, and under water.
While the era of atmospheric tests had come to an end, the devastating impact on the environment and the health of the people in Kazakhstan persisted for generations, leaving a tragic legacy that serves as a reminder of the high human cost of nuclear testing.
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