Kazakhstan: Former Nuclear Test Site Could Be Farmed Says Energy Minister

One of the world's most irradiated sites could be returned to economic use, according to a Kazakh government minister.

The Semipalatinsk nuclear site was used for years to test Soviet atomic weapons, but Sauat Mynbayev, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, has called for feasibility studies to determine whether the area can be put to agricultural use. "The former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site covers 300 square kilometers. It's necessary to determine if the land is now suitable for agricultural purposes," the Kazakhstan Today news website quotes him as saying on May 27.

Over the course of 50 years, ending in 1989, more than 450 atomic tests were conducted in the region.