Semey Anatomical Museum

Semey University Anatomical Museum [ - darkometer rating : formerly 10 - ] UPDATE: this museum is no longer accessible to tourists! I will move this chapter to the 'lost places' section in due course. The description below is now history. ------------------------------------ A small but incredibly intense collection at the Medical University in Semey , Kazakhstan . It illustrates what devastating effects on health the legacy of radioactive fallout from the nearby Polygon (the infamous Semipalatinsk nuclear test site) had on the region and its population. It's not for the faint-hearted, it's hard to stomach, but it's highly illuminating. A very dark site indeed. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos (warning! Some of these are very graphic!) More background info: for the historical and technical background of Soviet nuclear testing in Kazakhstan see under Polygon , Museum of the Semipalatinsk Test Site and Kurchatov (and cf. also NTS , Bikini , Hiroshima and Nagasaki ). The people living around the test site, and in a few cases possibly even within its perimeter, were mostly unaware of what was happening and what risks they were being exposed to – but of course those responsible must have been aware of this … It was either ignored or deliberately taken into account that people would be affected by the tests. It is in fact a common claim that these people were abused as something like human guinea pigs. No wonder, then, that there is also a lot of anger involved in dealing with this legacy. And a gruesome legacy it is. Elevated cancer levels amongst the local population is just one aspect that is typically attributed to radiation pollution.