The Soviet Union detonated hundreds of nuclear devices over a period of 40 years at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan—but all of that stopped when the test site closed 25 years ago, on Aug. 29, 1991.
Fallout from the mushroom clouds above ground and explosions below ground did severe damage over time on the surrounding populations, especially in the town of Semipalatinsk (now Semey) almost 100 mi. east of the site. Radiation levels are still as much as ten times higher in the soil and water near the town, and babies were born with deformities during and after the period …read more
Source: Time
