International Day against Nuclear Tests

Kazakhstan initiated a resolution to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on August 29, 1991. In May 2010, all parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons pledged to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. In August 2012, an international conference was held in Astana, Semey, and Kurchatov to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests and the 21st anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site. During the conference, Kazakhstan's President Nazarbayev announced the launch of the international project ATOM (Abolish Testing Our Mission) and called on participants to support the project by signing an electronic petition urging governments worldwide to permanently abandon nuclear testing. The goal of the ATOM project is to gather people from around the world to fight for the permanent cessation of nuclear testing and ultimately rid the world of nuclear weapons. Anyone who opposes nuclear weapons can sign the online petition to help governments achieve the early entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty, which prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons, was adopted on July 7, 2017, opened for signature on September 20, 2017, and entered into force on January 22, 2021. The treaty also establishes a timeframe for negotiations leading to the verified and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons programs for nuclear-armed states that join the treaty.