Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb

Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb, by Togzhan Kassenova, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2022, 386 pp., ISBN 9781503628465 

Atomic Steppe provides a background to Kazakhstan’s antipathy towards nuclear power as a result of Soviet nuclear tests mentioned in this editions’ article ‘Central Asia: The nexus between Environmental and Energy Concerns’.  

The book, written by Kazakh author Togzhan Kassenova whose father was head of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies in the early days of Kazakh independence, explores the nation’s complicated relationship with nuclear power by guiding the reader through decades of Soviet nuclear tests and the formative years of the newly independent nation. 

Above all, it can be described as both personal and detailed. Personal not only because it deals with, per self-admission, topics that shaped the author’s life. The story is motivated and guided by personal tragedies and human experiences. The inclusion of contemporary witness reports throughout the book brings those fates to life. It is a detailed account that covers seven decades of Kazakh nuclear history not leaving any stone unturned.  

Atomic Steppe is divided into two parts. The first one deals with the period under the Soviet Union, from the first nuclear test on Kazakh territory in 1949 to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is as much about the horrific consequences of nuclear tests as it is about the disregard for the regions’ population and environment, sacrificed for the greater good of building the Soviet atomic bomb. The so-called Polygon in the Semipalatinsk region in Eastern Kazakhstan, an area the size of Belgium, was the USSR’s main nuclear test site. Without engaging in an extensive blame-game Kassenova tells the stories of the region’s inhabitants as well as the scientists working on the nuclear program; highlighting their motivations, sorrows and struggles.  

The region serves as a magnifying glass of Soviet politics and the challenges of a multiethnic state. Facilitated by glasnost, the Kazakh attempts to stop the nuclear tests finally led to the formation of an anti-nuclear movement in Semipalatinsk as the Union was collapsing. Nuclear testing was a major issue in the struggle between the Kazakh leadership and the central government in Moscow and constituted political leverage for the early career of Kazakhstan’s long-term president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Until the end of the Soviet Union, nuclear power brought only suffering to the Kazakhs. However, in contrast to Belarus and Ukraine, the country did not commit to relinquishing nuclear weapons in the declaration that established the CIS. 

The second part of the book covers the struggles of the newly independent Kazakhstan focussed on the nuclear issue. Suddenly left with the 4th largest nuclear arsenal in the world and no means to stop a launch of nuclear weapons from its territory, the government had to deliberate on how to proceed. Without additional context, and akin to discussions after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many might wonder why any country would give up nuclear weapons. As this account shows, the Kazakh leadership knew from the very beginning that it could not keep the weapons. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country could be described as “vulnerable and poor but with great potential”. It had no army, no currency, no money and most importantly no control over most of the nuclear weapons on its territory or any means or expertise to protect or maintain them once the Russian armed forces left.  

Centred around the nuclear issue, it is a fascinating case study of the challenges of state building after the collapse of the USSR. In a vivid account, once again involving plenty of contemporary witnesses, it describes how the Kazakh leadership used the weapons to receive international recognition and secure security guarantees from major nuclear powers. The most well-known one, the Budapest Memorandum, only constitutes the last step on the journey to a denuclearized Kazakhstan. Exemplified by the deliberations on the fate of the nuclear weapons, the nascent presidential system that evolved into today’s autocracy is visible. The decisions on nuclear issues were made by a small circle and in extreme cases only by president Nazarbayev and his closest advisor. 

Coming back to the personal dimension, the book ends describing today’s situation. Many still suffer from health problems generations later. The state assistance for them is outdated as they struggle to make a living in a remote part of the country. The site of the Polygon, despite years of international efforts, will never be secure. Its experience with nuclear tests explains Kazakh’s activism against nuclear tests and proliferation on the international stage. Atomic Steppe helps to understand why public opinion might be against adopting nuclear power and the leadership treads carefully around this sensitive issue to this day. 

The country is a major producer of Uranium and seeks to engage in the production of nuclear fuel. However, it does not want enrichment capabilities. 

For anyone interested in Kazakhstan, this book is a must-read including a comprehensive account of Kazakh nuclear history and entertaining anecdotes. Even those merely interested in Soviet history and politics will have the opportunity to explore familiar themes and events from another angle. For anyone who is just getting started into topics such as Soviet nuclear program or nuclear proliferation, this detailed account is not the place to start, but rather something to save for the future.