From Harm to Justice: a policy paper on nuclear-affected communities in Kazakhstan
Draft for review. It will not appear on the live site until approved.
Between 1949 and 1989, more than 400 nuclear weapons were detonated in Kazakhstan, and over 1.5 million people were exposed to radioactive fallout. In July 2026, the Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition (ASQAQ-QNFC) published From Harm to Justice, a needs-based assessment of nuclear-affected communities in Kazakhstan. Yerdaulet Rakhmatulla co-authored the paper with Aigerim Seitenova, with support from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The Nuclear Truth Project edited and designed it.
The paper builds on a nationwide survey of 516 respondents, first submitted as a working paper to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2025. It adds focus groups with community members in Semey and Pavlodar and more than a dozen expert interviews. Nearly nine in ten survey respondents consider current government support insufficient.
From these findings, the paper sets out policy pathways for implementing Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty, which cover assistance to victims, environmental remediation and international cooperation. The launch also introduced the coalition’s new website. The authors are presenting the findings ahead of the Treaty’s first review conference at the end of 2026.
Original source
From Harm to Justice (policy paper)
Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition