He went on to say his father was a shepherd and the family was grazing in the prairies near Qanyar, south of the test sites. “One day, a bomb was detonated, and we saw a massive column of red flames rising to the sky, followed by a mushroom- shaped cloud. A few minutes later, the whole area became as hot as a furnace. All my family members died within two years; and all the livestock too. That is why I am considered a legend,” he explained. Ali, who was raised by a distant relative, suffered from bone deformation and lung cancer. He turned his face as he tried to hide his tears, and I held back mine. All of Qaynar’s population of 700 were suffering physical or mental ailments as a result of the radiation. Dr Farahat told me that in the previous three months alone, four young men, aged between 18 and 21, had committed suicide. Three days before our visit, we had been to Kurchatov, a town named after the Soviet nuclear physicist, Igor Kurchatov. It was once the centre of operations for the nearby Semipalatinsk test site. Formerly home to nuclear scientists, it was now a ghost town. Accompanied by three experts, we toured Kazakhstan’s National Nuclear Center, museum and test sites.
During the Soviet era, it was impossible to come to these towns or even to find them on a map. They were the most secretive and restricted. The Soviet Union authorities carried out more than 500 tests of atomic and hydrogen bombs, above or under ground. More than one-and-a-half million people have been affected by the resulting radiation. A few days after our visit, my crew and I started to suffer sudden weight loss, constant sweating and vomiting. We were all diagnosed with abnormal enlargement of our thyroid glands. Our cameramen had to have a thyroidectomy, but still suffers from exophthalmos, or bulging eyes. Three years after the visit, I underwent the same operation. Until this day, I face health issues as a result of the visit. But it is a sacrifice I do not regret.
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