Remembering Semipalatinsk 2021 A Preview

UNITED STATES

12.22.2020

Story by Andrea Chaney 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA – One of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) most significant efforts to counter the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction has been a relatively unknown project at one of the Soviet Union’s most isolated and secretive facilities, the former Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. DTRA’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program has partnered with the Republic of Kazakhstan’s National Nuclear Center to eliminate the sites’ abandoned nuclear weapons testing infrastructure, identify and secure vulnerable nuclear materials, and leverage the unique territory to advance a shared goal of nuclear non-proliferation.

2021 will be a year of celebration. This year marks the 30th anniversary of three significant milestones: the closure of the Semipalatinsk Test Site on August 29, 1991, the creation of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program on December 12, 1991, and Kazakhstan’s independence on December 16, 1991. Together with our partners in Kazakhstan, DTRA will share the story of our work to secure the former test site through a year-long communications campaign, “Securing Semipalatinsk: Nuclear Weapons Heritage, Non-Proliferation Legacy.” Throughout the year we will share a series of videos, conversations and other media, including previously unreleased materials and insights from many personnel who were directly involved.

Products will be shared via DTRA’s social media platforms, @DODDTRA on Twitter, Instragram, and YouTube and ‘Defense Threat Reduction Agency’ on Facebook using the hashtags #SecuringSemipalatinsk and #CTR30, and will be accesbile via DTRA’s website at https://www.dtra.mil/about/events.

For media inquiries, contact DTRA Public Affairs at 703-767-5870 or [e-mail].

• Date Taken: 12.22.2020
• Date Posted: 12.22.2020 10:47
• Story ID: 385607
• Location: US