Introduction 11
patriotic memory and the development of a new culture of remembrance.
The victims of nuclear accidents and radioactive contamination played a central role in the nation- and state-building processes in some of the successor
states of the Soviet Union (Penter). The process of coming to terms with the
experiences of Soviet rule after the end of the Soviet Empire therefore has a
strong ecological component, which requires that approaches to transitional
justice and environmental justice be thought of as interconnected. More
recently, this process has also taken on a European dimension, manifested
in a growing number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) by post-Soviet environmental victims.
In the future, the nuclear legacies could become even more of an object
of post-Soviet memory conflicts, because the achievements of Soviet nuclear
modernity are by no means undisputed in the successor states of the Soviet
Union. The answers to what the nuclear legacy meant for the successor states
of the Soviet Union vary today, with the nuclear shield in the Cold War era
and the accelerated progress of industrialization and modernization being
weighed against nuclear accidents, gigantic environmental and health damage, and social conflicts.
While the acknowledgment of victims of radioactive contamination
played a central role in the nation-building in Ukraine, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan since the 1990s, this was not to the same extent the case in the
Russian Federation or in Tajikistan. In Russia, the nuclear victims were not
perceived as victims of an inhuman Soviet system, but rather as individuals
who happened to be in the “influence zone of unfavorable factors.” This
might be due to still prevailing views that these inhabitants were bearing
the consequences of the Soviet nuclear shield, thus protecting Soviet citizens as a whole. This idea of a peace-building effect in nuclear weapons is
also held by local scientists working at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site
during Soviet time. However, in the Semey region and, to some extent in
Kazakhstan as a whole, a public debate followed the information boom on
nuclear test activities of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which went together
with state research and compensation programs. 43 In Tajikistan, no critical
debate has yet begun about the nuclear legacy of the Soviet era and its victims (Roche).
A future conflict could revolve around the Soviet legacy of nuclear waste. It
has been apparent for some years now that the legacy of uranium mining is one
of the most important long-term problems facing Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
and that these states are completely overburdened with the disposal of radioactive waste. 44 Around the densely populated Ferghana Valley, in the border region between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, there are several
highly dangerous uranium waste repositories with millions of tons of toxic
radioactive waste, which need urgent remediation. If released, this material
would massively affect all three neighboring countries and fuel old conflicts
among the Central Asian states. According to many experts, the question is
not whether this will happen, but rather when, as earthquakes, floods, and
patriotic memory and the development of a new culture of remembrance.
The victims of nuclear accidents and radioactive contamination played a central role in the nation- and state-building processes in some of the successor
states of the Soviet Union (Penter). The process of coming to terms with the
experiences of Soviet rule after the end of the Soviet Empire therefore has a
strong ecological component, which requires that approaches to transitional
justice and environmental justice be thought of as interconnected. More
recently, this process has also taken on a European dimension, manifested
in a growing number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) by post-Soviet environmental victims.
In the future, the nuclear legacies could become even more of an object
of post-Soviet memory conflicts, because the achievements of Soviet nuclear
modernity are by no means undisputed in the successor states of the Soviet
Union. The answers to what the nuclear legacy meant for the successor states
of the Soviet Union vary today, with the nuclear shield in the Cold War era
and the accelerated progress of industrialization and modernization being
weighed against nuclear accidents, gigantic environmental and health damage, and social conflicts.
While the acknowledgment of victims of radioactive contamination
played a central role in the nation-building in Ukraine, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan since the 1990s, this was not to the same extent the case in the
Russian Federation or in Tajikistan. In Russia, the nuclear victims were not
perceived as victims of an inhuman Soviet system, but rather as individuals
who happened to be in the “influence zone of unfavorable factors.” This
might be due to still prevailing views that these inhabitants were bearing
the consequences of the Soviet nuclear shield, thus protecting Soviet citizens as a whole. This idea of a peace-building effect in nuclear weapons is
also held by local scientists working at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site
during Soviet time. However, in the Semey region and, to some extent in
Kazakhstan as a whole, a public debate followed the information boom on
nuclear test activities of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which went together
with state research and compensation programs. 43 In Tajikistan, no critical
debate has yet begun about the nuclear legacy of the Soviet era and its victims (Roche).
A future conflict could revolve around the Soviet legacy of nuclear waste. It
has been apparent for some years now that the legacy of uranium mining is one
of the most important long-term problems facing Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
and that these states are completely overburdened with the disposal of radioactive waste. 44 Around the densely populated Ferghana Valley, in the border region between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, there are several
highly dangerous uranium waste repositories with millions of tons of toxic
radioactive waste, which need urgent remediation. If released, this material
would massively affect all three neighboring countries and fuel old conflicts
among the Central Asian states. According to many experts, the question is
not whether this will happen, but rather when, as earthquakes, floods, and