After 30 years of the testing site being closed, the people of Kazakhstan are still experiencing the aftermath of the harmful effects of the bombs. With no less than 456 nuclear weapons that were tested from 1949 to 1989, the destruction and radiation of the surrounding area is still in effect today. The Cold War was the cause of these weapons being built to such extent, and the availability of the steppes in Kazakhstan was perfect for the Soviets to study the devastation they could cause on their oppressors.
Listening to what my parents talk about during the Cold War only brings a glimpse into the effect on the United States. Obviously there is a bias within the United States of hatred towards the Soviet Union, but growing up after this standstill war, I have never had the full effect of the Soviet reign throughout the world. I do believe there has been a fear of the Soviet Union for centuries, yet the generation that I have grown up in hasn’t truly understood the effect they have had on our country.
I have only had the opportunity to read about what occurred between the two countries, and with that has brought only a small amount of discomfort for the large country. Reading about the country testing their nuclear weapons in a different country than their own, has only brought distaste for the state. Znamenka is a village that is close in proximity to the testing site, and has seen radiation poisoning and other harmful effects since the testing began. It’s hard to imagine the true mental effect of constantly seeing a cloud of black smoke from bombs that aren’t even your own, and not knowing how this cloud of black smoke could effect your life as you grow up. Through cancer and other cardiovascular diseases that have developed, the population has seen the lasting effects of these harmful weapons that could so easily destroy our world.