The environmental legacy of Soviet nuclear arms
program affected other former Soviet Republics as
well as Russia. Kazakhstan and Ukraine had very
large holdings and massive contamination issues,
particularly in Kazakhstan. When Kazakhstan and
Ukraine became independent they became among the
largest holders of nuclear weapons in the world. They
agreed to send these weapons to Russia for disman-
tling, though handling associated nuclear wastes is a
long-term problem for them. Kazakhstan inventoried
wastes and locations, and noted more than 230 million
tons of radioactive waste from testing, mining, pro-
cessing and nuclear reactors in the country. Wastes
were stored at 529 different locations (NTI, Russia
and Kazakhstan 2011). Much has been done to man-
age these materials and issues since 1991, but the risks
and costs of handling and disposal of nuclear materi-
als remains an ongoing problem.
The breakup of the USSR left Russia with large
stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons agents
in facilities at various locations across the country.
Its biological weapons were in violation of an exist-
ing treaty. Russia affirmed its support for treaty ob-
ligations, but safe disposal was a looming problem.
The West offered assistance to help contain possible
dissemination or catastrophe. Russia has confirmed
disposal of materials at some plants, but the status
of work at some key facilities is unknown (NTI 2011,
Russia/Biological).
With respect to chemical weapons agents, Russia
signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997,
which committed it to dispose of chemical weapons
with Western assistance. Russia has made progress in
dismantling/destroying these materials, but the huge
and dispersed stockpiles of these toxins continue to
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