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Radioactive heritage of Kazakhstan (25 photos)
Attention! This post contains a moderate amount of tin and negativity.
60 years ago, the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon codenamed "First Lightning" in the steppe of northeast Kazakhstan. Proving Ground - Semipalatinsk - for his 40 years has gone through 456 nuclear explosions. Residents of nearby towns became unwitting guinea pigs, suffered from the effects of explosions, both specific and random. Radiation absorbed three generations of Kazakhstan - the total number of infected more than a million - cause health problems - from thyroid disease and cancer to birth defects, deformities, premature aging and cardiovascular disease. Life expectancy is seven years less than in other parts of Kazakhstan. In this issue you'll see the effects of nuclear explosions on any innocent people.
Nurse Larissa Soboleva holds two-year Adil Zhilyaev in an orphanage in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, November 24, 2008. Adil was born blind and also with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. His mother was exposed to radiation over the years as a result of nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War. Parents abandoned him, and now cared for at the shelter. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images) [next]
Sergei Zubritsky goes through a series of exercises in a health center for the elderly and disabled in Semipalatinsk November 20, 2008. Sergey, whose parents worked at the nuclear test site, was born with deformed hands and osteochondrosis. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Large bucket dominates the nuclear test site in the background lights of Kurchatov, Kazakhstan, on the horizon, November 22, 2008. Polygon was the site of almost 500 nuclear tests during the Cold War. Residents of nearby villages and towns have not received any warnings or protection against radiation. United Nations Development Program reports that over a million people were exposed to radiation as a result of 40 years of nuclear weapons testing. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina bathes her daughter in Semipalatinsk Zhannur March 2, 2009. 16-year-old Zhannur born with microcephaly and scoliosis second part due to high levels of radiation. This has influenced the development of the brain Zhannur, as if she were in a vegetative state. She does not know how to think, speak and perform even the most basic steps. Mayra must bathe her every day because she can not afford diapers. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina Zhannur feeds her daughter at home in Semipalatinsk, November 21, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra does her daughter Zhumageldina Zhannur massage before going to bed, in Semipalatinsk 23 November 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina kisses his 16-year-old daughter Zhannur at his home in Semipalatinsk, November 21, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina Zhannur carries her daughter in a wheelchair in Semipalatinsk, November 27, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
The sun sets over the Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, March 3, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
The woman in the church in Kurchatov hit the bells on Christmas Eve 6 January 2009. Once Kurchatov was the epicenter of the nuclear weapons tests, we have lived here for scientists and technicians. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov sitting on a bed in the house of his mother in law on the territory of the nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, February 25, 2009. He was born with signs of ugliness and blind as a result of the spread of radiation in the womb. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov (right) reaches for the hand of his mother-in Bibigul at her home in Kazakhstan February 25, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
29-year-old Berik Syzdikov sings and plays the piano in the apartment in Semey, Kazakhstan November 19, 2008. Berik learned to play piano and fell in love with opera when he was in Italy, where he was operated on his face. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov goes arm in arm with her mother in Semipalatinsk on Tuesday 19 November, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov smokes on a hill on the background of the city of Semipalatinsk 24 November 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Scientists use a Geiger counter to test radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan January 6, 2009. More than 400 nuclear explosions were conducted in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, leaving areas of high radiation levels. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Yadernik scientist uses a Geiger counter to test radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan January 6, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
7-year-old Valeria Soldin with Down Syndrome playing with fiber optic lights in a rehabilitation center in Semipalatinsk, January 15, 2009. She was born with developmental delays and recently learned to walk. These lights are made especially for the development of motor skills. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
13-year-old Zhanbolat Turisbekov watches television as his sister Aida plays in their house in Semey, Kazakhstan November 26, 2008. The brother and sister were born with spinal amyotrophy and can not walk. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Father bathes the 18-year-old Nikita Bochkareva Semey 12 January 2009. Nikita cerebral palsy, can not control his body, so he needed constant care of parents. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Father Andrew dress Nikita Bochkareva Semey January 12, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkarev nose tickles his younger brother Daniel in an apartment in Semipalatinsk 3 March 2009. Nikita and Daniel pose as fighting dogs, but Nikita can use to play only his nose. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkarev typed on the keyboard with a stick on his helmet during a remote lesson of the Russian language in the apartment in Semipalatinsk January 14, 2009. He practically lives on the Internet, where his mind is released from physically handicapped body, allowing him to write short stories, letters and poems, as well as chat with friends. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
A touching moment of communication between two close friends - Bochkareva Nikita and his mother in their apartment in Semey, Kazakhstan January 12, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Stars over the abandoned military town of Chagan near the nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, February 27, 2009. Once the city was a military air base during the Cold War, with planes ready to drop nuclear payloads. It was abandoned after nuclear tests ended after the Soviet collapse. Now it is a ghost town in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
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60 years ago, the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon codenamed "First Lightning" in the steppe of northeast Kazakhstan. Proving Ground - Semipalatinsk - for his 40 years has gone through 456 nuclear explosions. Residents of nearby towns became unwitting guinea pigs, suffered from the effects of explosions, both specific and random. Radiation absorbed three generations of Kazakhstan - the total number of infected more than a million - cause health problems - from thyroid disease and cancer to birth defects, deformities, premature aging and cardiovascular disease. Life expectancy is seven years less than in other parts of Kazakhstan. In this issue you'll see the effects of nuclear explosions on any innocent people.
Nurse Larissa Soboleva holds two-year Adil Zhilyaev in an orphanage in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, November 24, 2008. Adil was born blind and also with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. His mother was exposed to radiation over the years as a result of nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War. Parents abandoned him, and now cared for at the shelter. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images) [next]
Sergei Zubritsky goes through a series of exercises in a health center for the elderly and disabled in Semipalatinsk November 20, 2008. Sergey, whose parents worked at the nuclear test site, was born with deformed hands and osteochondrosis. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Large bucket dominates the nuclear test site in the background lights of Kurchatov, Kazakhstan, on the horizon, November 22, 2008. Polygon was the site of almost 500 nuclear tests during the Cold War. Residents of nearby villages and towns have not received any warnings or protection against radiation. United Nations Development Program reports that over a million people were exposed to radiation as a result of 40 years of nuclear weapons testing. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina bathes her daughter in Semipalatinsk Zhannur March 2, 2009. 16-year-old Zhannur born with microcephaly and scoliosis second part due to high levels of radiation. This has influenced the development of the brain Zhannur, as if she were in a vegetative state. She does not know how to think, speak and perform even the most basic steps. Mayra must bathe her every day because she can not afford diapers. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina Zhannur feeds her daughter at home in Semipalatinsk, November 21, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra does her daughter Zhumageldina Zhannur massage before going to bed, in Semipalatinsk 23 November 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina kisses his 16-year-old daughter Zhannur at his home in Semipalatinsk, November 21, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina Zhannur carries her daughter in a wheelchair in Semipalatinsk, November 27, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
The sun sets over the Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, March 3, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
The woman in the church in Kurchatov hit the bells on Christmas Eve 6 January 2009. Once Kurchatov was the epicenter of the nuclear weapons tests, we have lived here for scientists and technicians. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov sitting on a bed in the house of his mother in law on the territory of the nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, February 25, 2009. He was born with signs of ugliness and blind as a result of the spread of radiation in the womb. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov (right) reaches for the hand of his mother-in Bibigul at her home in Kazakhstan February 25, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
29-year-old Berik Syzdikov sings and plays the piano in the apartment in Semey, Kazakhstan November 19, 2008. Berik learned to play piano and fell in love with opera when he was in Italy, where he was operated on his face. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov goes arm in arm with her mother in Semipalatinsk on Tuesday 19 November, 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdikov smokes on a hill on the background of the city of Semipalatinsk 24 November 2008. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Scientists use a Geiger counter to test radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan January 6, 2009. More than 400 nuclear explosions were conducted in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, leaving areas of high radiation levels. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Yadernik scientist uses a Geiger counter to test radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan January 6, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
7-year-old Valeria Soldin with Down Syndrome playing with fiber optic lights in a rehabilitation center in Semipalatinsk, January 15, 2009. She was born with developmental delays and recently learned to walk. These lights are made especially for the development of motor skills. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
13-year-old Zhanbolat Turisbekov watches television as his sister Aida plays in their house in Semey, Kazakhstan November 26, 2008. The brother and sister were born with spinal amyotrophy and can not walk. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Father bathes the 18-year-old Nikita Bochkareva Semey 12 January 2009. Nikita cerebral palsy, can not control his body, so he needed constant care of parents. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Father Andrew dress Nikita Bochkareva Semey January 12, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkarev nose tickles his younger brother Daniel in an apartment in Semipalatinsk 3 March 2009. Nikita and Daniel pose as fighting dogs, but Nikita can use to play only his nose. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkarev typed on the keyboard with a stick on his helmet during a remote lesson of the Russian language in the apartment in Semipalatinsk January 14, 2009. He practically lives on the Internet, where his mind is released from physically handicapped body, allowing him to write short stories, letters and poems, as well as chat with friends. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
A touching moment of communication between two close friends - Bochkareva Nikita and his mother in their apartment in Semey, Kazakhstan January 12, 2009. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
Stars over the abandoned military town of Chagan near the nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, February 27, 2009. Once the city was a military air base during the Cold War, with planes ready to drop nuclear payloads. It was abandoned after nuclear tests ended after the Soviet collapse. Now it is a ghost town in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. (Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images)
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