Kazakhstan. Cows and goats graze close to the village of Znamenka. The animals stand on the edge of the Semipalatinsk Polygon ( called today National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan) where took place 456 atomic testing - 116 atmospheric, 340 underground - from 1949 to 1989. The area is still radioactive due to fallout from nuclear test sites. The picture shows the landscape and environmental effects of nuclear radiation, genetic contamination through food chain and pollution from atomic tests programs of the former Soviet Union. Ecological disaster. Znamenka is located in the Eastern Kazakhstan Province. © 2008 Didier Ruef ...