Ground Zero is the test site where the Russians detonated their first nuclear bomb in August 1949. Nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk caused wide spread radioactive contamination in Kazakhstan. Around 1.7 million people have been used as guinea pigs by the military and been severely affected by radiation. The rates of cancers, leukemia, cardio vascular diseases, bone diseases and children born with physical or mental handicaps have increased dramatically since the testing started. In 1999, UNDP declared the region a disaster zone and called for wide spread support for the people living there.