World Marks Fifth International Day Against Nuclear Tests

September 9, 2014

Officials, activists and regular people around the world who are seeking a safer and more peaceful planet once again participated in the fifth August 29 International Day Against Nuclear Tests and its accompanying global moment of silence in memory of nuclear weapons testing survivors.

“Today, the effects of nuclear weapons upon civilian populations, agriculture, livestock and ground-water supplies are better known and well documented. They have contributed significantly to our collective efforts towards achieving the prohibition and elimination of all nuclear weapons for all time,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in observance of the day. “Together, let us demand an end to all nuclear tests and get on with the unfinished business of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The International Day against Nuclear Tests was first proposed by Kazakhstan and unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2009. The date marks the day in 1991 of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in East Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests, and the date of the first of those tests in 1949.

More than 1.5 million people in Kazakhstan have suffered early death, horrific birth defects and lifelong physical difficulties as a result of those tests. That stark reality led Kazakhstan to unilaterally give up the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world shortly after achieving independence and they have since been a leader in the movement for a nuclear-weapons-free world.

“Kazakhstan has convincingly demonstrated to the international community that peaceful policy, openness and cooperation are essential to prosperity, not force or the threat of its use,” said Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov in remarks regarding this year’s day against testing.

The President of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly John Ashe also noted the importance in the modern world of eliminating nuclear weapons.

“Due to their massive power of destruction, the use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic global consequences and would cause severe and long-lasting emergencies – humanitarian, global health, climate, social order, human development, and economic. Access to social goods and services is predicated on the existence of peace and security. Development goals can only be achieved if we prevent such catastrophes on our planet. This must be a collective effort, because we face the risks posed by these weapons collectively, not as states with narrow national security interests,” said Ashe.

As a way to unite toward achieving that goal and remember the victims of nuclear weapons testing, many around the world also participated in a global moment of silence at 11:05 local time on August 29. That time was chosen and proposed by The ATOM Project as the hands of the clock form a V, which stands for a victory of common sense over fear and a victory for global efforts towards a nuclear-weapons-free world.

Just fewer than 100,000 people worldwide have also signed an online petition at TheATOMProject.org, as a way to directly tell world leaders that they support a world free from nuclear weapons. The ATOM Project is an initiative of Kazakhstan and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev aimed at raising awareness about the horrible effects of nuclear weapons testing to help bring into force the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and, ultimately, achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world.

“I also call on all countries to refrain from nuclear tests, the use of new nuclear weapons technologies or any action that would defeat the object and purpose of the CTBT,” said Ban Ki-moon in his August 29 statement.

And to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Tests and to take stock of what the global community is doing to achieve the goal of legally banning nuclear tests, the United Nations General Assembly in New York is set to hold a special session on September 10. Top leadership from the UN, UN ambassadors from dozens of countries as well as a delegation from East Kazakhstan region are set to participate.

More information about The ATOM Project’s global efforts and the history of nuclear weapons testing and use can be found at www.TheATOMProject.org or by emailing at info@theatomproject.org.