How to visit Semipalatinsk Test Site

In 1949, the Soviet Union built a nuclear test site in the middle of the vast and remote Kazakh steppe.

They named it Semipalatinsk-21 – popularly known as The Polygon – the facilitaties of which stretch across more than 18,000km², a piece of land the size of Israel, and where more than 456 nuclear tests were conducted from 1949 to 1989.

The Polygon was officially closed in 1994 but today, you can still visit its remains, while learning about this dark yet fascinating episode of Soviet history.

This post will show you how to visit Semey.

In this travel guide to Semey, you will find:

🇰🇿 Introduction to visiting Semipalantisk Test Site

The first atomic bomb ever detonated by the Soviet Union was in Semipalatinsk, and that would be just one of 456 tests carried out in The Polygon.

However, Semipalatinsk was not only used for testing atomic bombs; all manner of nuclear tests were conducted here, including hydrogen device detonations and nuclear missile launches.

Today, it’s still possible to see the massive craters produced by explosions as well as abandoned Soviet facilities scattered across this area of Kazakhstan.

Despite being relatively far from civilization, it is said that hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the radiation produced by those nuclear tests.

The Soviet Union always hid all the problems stemming from radiation exposure, but the Government of Kazakhstan has publicly recognized that more than 1.5 million people have been affected by it, something USSR nostalgics will always deny, given that the actual number of people living in the surrounding areas is only a tiny fraction of that figure.

Either way, it has been clinically proven that the children of residents who lived in the area surrounding the test site in the 50s and 60s have a much higher rate of various of birth mutations, cancers and solid tumors.

🛫 How to get to The Polygon

As mentioned in the introduction, The Polygon is a massive area of 18,000km² located in the middle of the Kazakh steppe.

Approximate location:

Logically, there aren’t any means of public transportation to take you there, but you can get to a relatively…