Dear Friend --

Since 1945, nuclear-armed states have detonated over 2,000 nuclear weapons, impacting communities around the world. Each August 29th, we mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests to raise awareness of what these tests do to people and the environment, and call for an end to nuclear weapons.

Learn more about the impacts of nuclear testing

Today, I’m writing to you from Astana, Kazakhstan, where we’re marking this day with a unique regional conference on the "Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) in Central Asia."

The location is significant, as Kazakhstan is one of the countries that knows first-hand what these weapons do to communities and the environment. In fact, the date of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests was actually chosen to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site - one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites - in Kazakhstan on 29 August 1991. In turn, the test site gave its name to the regional treaty that marks Central Asia as a Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone: The Semipalatinsk Treaty.

Kazakhstan is also an outspoken advocate for nuclear disarmament and an active leader for the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons, the TPNW, co-chairing its working group on victim assistance and environmental remediation, and as the designated president of the third meeting of states parties.

So we are proud to work together with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Red Cross and ICAN partners SGI and CISP, to bring together the states parties to the Semipalatinsk Treaty and other key actors to hear from impacted communities and experts on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, as well as discuss next steps to achieve nuclear disarmament. To learn more about today’s conference you can watch our behind the scenes video, or read more here.

But on international days like today, our voices and calls for an end to nuclear weapons should extend well beyond conference rooms. With nuclear tests back in the public eye after the release of the film “Oppenheimer” earlier this summer, we need everyone to talk more about what nuclear tests actually do to people and the environment and why it’s time to end these weapons of mass destruction once and for all.

So I’m hoping you will help us spread the word on what nuclear weapons actually do, by following these 3 steps:

1. Explore our interactive map on nuclear tests impacts, 
2. Dive into the stories of the survivors of nuclear testing,
3. Share these stories on social media in a few simple clicks:    

Spread the word

Thank you for all that you do. 

Sincerely,

Céline Nahory
Advocacy Coordinator
ICAN

It’s time to end nuclear weapons.

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