Kantubek
Encyclopedia
Kantubek was a town on Vozrozhdeniya Island (Uzbekistan
) in the Aral Sea
. The town is still found on maps, but is usually uninhabited, and lies in ruins today.
Kantubek used to have a population of approximately 1,500, and was the place the former Soviet Union
government used to test biological weapons. In the 1930s, experiments were conducted on monkeys.
Brian Hayes, a biochemical engineer with the United States Department of Defense
's Threat Reduction Agency, led an expedition in the spring and summer of 2002 to neutralize what was probably the world's largest anthrax
dumping grounds. His team of 113 people neutralized between 100 and 200 tonnes of anthrax over a three-month period. The cost of the cleanup operation was approximately US$5,000,000.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
) in the Aral Sea
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
. The town is still found on maps, but is usually uninhabited, and lies in ruins today.
Kantubek used to have a population of approximately 1,500, and was the place the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
government used to test biological weapons. In the 1930s, experiments were conducted on monkeys.
Brian Hayes, a biochemical engineer with the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
's Threat Reduction Agency, led an expedition in the spring and summer of 2002 to neutralize what was probably the world's largest anthrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
dumping grounds. His team of 113 people neutralized between 100 and 200 tonnes of anthrax over a three-month period. The cost of the cleanup operation was approximately US$5,000,000.