08/29/2016 — Today is the International Day against Nuclear Tests. In his message on this occasion, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for joint efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. He recalled the victims of tests at the nuclear test site in Semipalatinsk and all other victims of nuclear explosions.

“Today we celebrate a quarter of a century since the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan, the site of more than 450 nuclear tests. The victims of these tests are joined by other victims from Central Asia, North Africa, North America and the South Pacific,” says Ban Ki-moon’s message.

Recalling his visit to Semipalatinsk in 2010, the head of the UN noted that during the visit he saw not only traces of toxic damage, but also the desire of the inhabitants of this country for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The International Day against Nuclear Tests was established by the General Assembly at the initiative of Kazakhstan in 2009. On this day in 1949, the first nuclear test in the USSR was carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site. This and subsequent tests caused irreparable damage to the environment and human health. August 29, 1991 – exactly a quarter of a century ago – the landfill was closed.

Ban Ki-moon urged to remember the catastrophic consequences of atomic explosions and reiterated the need to do everything possible for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

“The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, adopted by the General Assembly 20 years ago, has not yet entered into force. Given the catastrophic risks posed by nuclear weapons to our collective human and environmental security, even to our very existence, we must end this stalemate,” the UN chief said.