The year 2024 in Kazakhstan is being held under the auspices of the 35th anniversary of the International Anti-Nuclear Movement "Nevada-Semipalatinsk". This year marks the 35th anniversary of the last nuclear test conducted in the Soviet Union at the largest nuclear test site on the planet, the Semipalatinsk Test Site, in October. Over the course of 40 years, 468 nuclear explosions took place there.
The test site "fell silent" thanks to the active efforts of the International Anti-Nuclear Movement "Nevada-Semipalatinsk," which was established on February 28, 1989. Within the first few weeks, it had gathered more than two million active participants from Kazakhstan, Russia, and other republics, all united in the name of peace and security. Thanks to the "Nevada-Semey" movement, four other major test sites around the world ceased operations: in the USA, China, France, and the UK.
At the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, a meeting was held in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the "Nevada-Semey" movement, bringing together veterans and participants of the movement with students and graduate students of the university. Each of the veterans shared their personal stories of the grassroots movement. Valeriy Aytmukashevich Zhandauletov, Vice President of the "Nevada-Semey" movement and a well-known Kazakh journalist, recalled the peaceful marches and how signatures were gathered from across the country, whether on notebook paper or large sheets, in support of halting nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Lyudmila Nikolaevna Prus, scientific secretary and one of the earliest members of the movement, spoke about the role of youth in the development of the initiative, noting that it was Kazakhstanis who started the movement, which later became international. Tatyana Alexandrovna Maul, an activist of the movement, highlighted the contribution of the famous Kazakhstani biophysicist and world-renowned scientist, Viktor Mikhailovich Inyushin, to the anti-nuclear movement and urged students to carry out comprehensive research and activities aimed at helping those affected by nuclear tests.
The staff of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University also acknowledged the contributions of their colleagues to the development of the movement. B.B. Meirbaev, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, emphasized that the ideological inspirer and leader of the "Nevada-Semey" movement, the renowned writer, poet, and public figure Olzhas Omarovich Suleimenov, was an alumnus of KazNU. Professor M.P. Kabakova recalled her close colleague and presidential advisor to the "Nevada-Semey" movement, psychologist Kulyash Esirkegenovna Basybekova, and noted that many university faculty members of that time actively participated in the movement and supported its initiatives.
The veterans of the anti-nuclear movement also shared their views with the students: the current achievements of the "Nevada-Semey" movement are the result of the courage and active civic stance of millions of people, but these achievements still require support today. While the Semipalatinsk test site has been officially closed, some other test sites are only "sleeping" and could resume activity at any moment. This is why current and future generations must remember the dangers of nuclear testing and the ideas of the "Nevada-Semey" movement, which opposed them. It is for this reason that Valeriy Aytmukashevich Zhandauletov, Lyudmila Nikolaevna Prus, and Tatyana Alexandrovna Maul passed the baton to the youth – nuclear test sites must remain silent for the sake of humanity!
Mayra KABAKOVA,
Professor of the Department of General and Applied Psychology,
Kundyz MUSA,
2nd-year Doctoral Student
