From 1966 to 1976, 24 underground nuclear explosions were conducted here. Some of the explosions were conducted to test nuclear weapons; others were conducted to create underground reservoirs in salt domes of the Caspian Depression for the storage of liquid and gaseousfuel supplies.[2,3] In late 1994, the Southern Seismological Station, which managed nuclear explosions, ceased its activity and Russian guards left the site in March 1996.[4] The Azgyr test site houses a laboratory for the synthesis of superstrong materials, which includes the Yava-1M installation for producing artificial diamonds.[5]

Sources: 
[1] Smantay Tleubergenov, Poligony Kazakhstana (Almaty: Gylym, 1997), p. 481. 
[2] Information provided to NISNP by the Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Agency, 26 October 1996. 
[3]"Territoriya Byvshego Yadernogo Poligona Azgir v Kazakhstane Bezopasna, Polagayut Spetsialisty," Interfax-Novosti, 7 August 2001. 
[4] Kazakhstanskaya pravda, 11 December 1996, pp. 1,5; in "Kazakhstan: Call For End to Russian Military Tests," FBIS-SOV-96-252, 11 December 1996. 
[5]"Information Section," Yadernyy kontrol, April 1995, p. 7.{Updated 11/6/2000 KB, 9/11/2001 DK}