[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 135 (Friday, August 30, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DINA TITUS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 30, 2024

  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the 15th annual International 
Day Against Nuclear Tests on August 29, and to commend the Republic of 
Kazakhstan for its role in working collaboratively with the United 
States to pursue nuclear disarmament and our shared nonproliferation 
goals. In doing so, our two countries have preserved peace, stability, 
and a world free from the ever-present threat of nuclear conflict.
  When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it left behind 35,000 
nuclear weapons at sites across the Eurasian landmass. With thousands 
of nuclear-armed ICBMs in places like Belarus and Ukraine, the newly-
formed Republic of Kazakhstan inherited the world's fourth-largest 
nuclear arsenal, which was also home of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test 
site. From Semipalatinsk's establishment in 1946 to its decommission in 
1995, Soviet authorities carried out 468 nuclear tests at the test 
site. The total impact of these tests between 1949 and 1963 was 2,500 
times more powerful than the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima. 
The toxic radioactive fallout these tests yielded caused irreparable 
damage to more than 1.3 million people in Kazakhstan and severe 
ecological harm to the area surrounding the test site.
  In 1989, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, anti-nuclear war 
activists in Kazakhstan established the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement. 
This grassroots initiative supported by victims of Nevada's own nuclear 
legacy sought the closure of Semipalatinsk and the cessation of nuclear 
testing. Of the 18 planned detonations in 1989, 11 were stopped thanks 
to the group's committed advocacy and resilience. The Nevada-
Semipalatinsk Movement underscores the bond and shared history between 
Nevadans and Kazakhs.
  Despite any strategic advantage that retention of the Soviet Union's 
arsenal may have provided to Kazakhstan, its leadership understood the 
potential political, humanitarian, and environmental ramifications of 
its development. On August 29, 1991, Kazakhstan made the historic and 
noble decision to close the Semipalatinsk test site. In its place, the 
National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan was established to assist in 
eliminating the infrastructure for the storage and use of nuclear 
weapons. It would also provide scientific and technical support for the 
peaceful use of atomic energy.
  In 1992, Kazakhstan ratified the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 
(START 1) and a few years later, all of Kazakhstan's 104 ICBMs were 
safely removed and destroyed. The Kazakh government doubled-down on its 
commitment to global peace, security, and nonproliferation by becoming 
a party to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1993, 
a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1994, and a 
cosigner of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in 1996.
  Meanwhile, in partnership with the United States, Kazakhstan removed 
1,322 pounds of highly enriched uranium from the Ulba Metallurgical 
Plant under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. As 
part of this program, our two countries took monumental steps to remove 
residual materials and technologies related to weapons of mass 
destruction in Kazakhstan, signaling a major shift in the global 
security and political paradigm and building momentum that catalyzed 
the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
  In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution 
calling for an International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Thus, August 
29th was selected to commend and recognize Kazakhstan's honorable 
decision to close the Semipalatinsk test site and renounce nuclear 
weapons.
  With Cold War-style nuclear saber-rattling becoming the new norm, it 
is important, on this International Day Against Nuclear Tests, to 
highlight the successful steps taken by the United States and 
Kazakhstan to mitigate the dangers of nuclear weapons, institute global 
nonproliferation regimes, and adhere to international norms around 
nuclear testing.

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