Kurchatov (in Kazakh and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Курча́тов) is a town in

Abai Region Abai Region (, ) is a Regions of Kazakhstan, region of Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced on 16 March 2022 that the region would be created. The area split off from East Kazakhstan Region when Tokayev's bill came into force on 8 ...

in north-east

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Named after Soviet nuclear physicist Igor Kurchatov, the town was once the centre of operations for the adjoining

Semipalatinsk Test Site The Semipalatinsk Test Site or Semipalatinsk-21 (; ), also known as "The Polygon", was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. It is located in Zhanasemey District, Abai Region, Kazakhstan, south of the valley of the Ir ...

. With the cessation of

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

and the decommissioning of the test site, Kurchatov's population has fallen from over 20,000 to around 8,000. In its heyday, Kurchatov (which was known by its postal code Semipalatinsk-21) was a

closed city A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied. Historically, the construction of closed cities became increasingly common after the beginning of the Cold War, particularly in the Soviet Union. Since t ...

, one of the most secretive and restricted places in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The nuclear facilities at Kurchatov are managed by the Kazakhstan Institute of Atomic Energy, a division of the country's National Nuclear Center.

Geography

Kurchatov is located on the south bank of the

Irtysh River The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world. The river's source lies in the Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern part of Xinjiang, China) cl ...

, which crosses into Kazakhstan from the autonomous region of

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

in China approximately to the southeast.

Infrastructure

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

connects Kurchatov to Pavlodar and

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

to the west and to

Semey Semey (; , formerly known as Semipalatinsk ( ) until 2007 and as Alash-Qala ( ) from 1917 to 1920, is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. I ...

to the east.

Effects of radiation

Kurchatov residents were exposed to radiation from the

, also known as the Polygon to locals. One village, located in the radius of three underground atomic test bomb craters, was deemed to belong to a “minimal risk category” and residents are entitled to a one-time, lump-sum payment equalling about $50. People in the Kurchatov region experience a variety of adverse health effects, though this has not been definitively linked to the radiation exposure due the “toxic layering” of numerous factors, such as inadequate nutrition, poor water quality, and unsanitary living conditions. The chronic ailments and diseases suffered by Kurchatov residents may be the result of radiation exposure, but the decades-long latency period from exposure to symptom makes it difficult to determine whether radiation or some other cause is at fault. As a result of the secrecy surrounding the Soviet atomic project, researchers were prevented from discussing radiation exposure and conducting public safety risk assessments. Soviet scientists were unable to track the types and amounts of radioisotopes released into the environment, unlike their US counterparts who were able to track radioisotopes and link them to quantifiable and singular physical effects, such as thyroid cancer.

Chronic radiation syndrome Chronic radiation syndrome (CRS), or chronic radiation enteritis, is a constellation of health effects of radiation that occur after months or years of chronic exposure to high amounts of radiation. Chronic radiation syndrome develops with a speed ...

(CRS) exists as a result of Soviet researchers’ linkage of concurrent symptoms, such as anemia, chronic fatigue, joint pain, nosebleeds, and brittle bones, to biological changes. The National Research Council in 2006 concluded that lose-dose radiation and illness cannot be clearly linked, and despite the possible dangers, there is no evidence that exposure to it causes disorders like birth defects, chromosomal aberrations, or any other cellular abnormalities among adult populations. The NRC also concluded that genetic damage caused by radiation cannot be passed on to offspring. This research is grounded in longitudinal studies of atomic-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Other research studies, such as Dubrova et al 1996, find that radiation can cause serious mutations in the germ line even in low doses and that somatic mutations are transmittable to offspring.

Citizens and “radioactive mutants”

According to Magdalena Stawkowski, the citizens of Kurchatov have a unique way of viewing themselves. Instead of believing they are victims of the radiation in the area, they consider themselves "radioactive mutants." They see the effects of the radiation as a “locally specific form of adaptation” and believe that any citizens who move out of the area die due to no longer being in an irradiated environment. While they embrace their radiation exposure, they also acknowledge the chronic ailments it has caused such as rashes, high blood pressure, heart problems, and cancers. However, they believe the radiation is keeping them alive and that clean air would actually kill them which is why so few leave the area. Despite the many ailments the people of Kurchatov have suffered through, they reject the idea that they are victims.

References

External links

Photographs of Kurchatov
taken by an

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

delegate
Photographs of buildings in Kurchatov

"Kurchatov" in Bradt Kazakhstan Guide

"Visit to the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site", a blog by a nuclear tourist.

Stanford University: The Semipalatinsk Legacy
Populated places in Abai Region Populated places on the Irtysh River {{AbaiRegion-geo-stub