In the territory former USSR there remained a mass of grandiose objects, including military training grounds. They tested a variety of weapons that make up the power of our country. Today, most of these structures are abandoned and looted: now they are kind of monuments to a bygone era. We will talk about the five most terrible training grounds of the Soviet Union.
Sary-Shagan polygon, Kazakhstan
The first and only test site in Eurasia where anti-missile weapons were developed and tested is located in the Betpak-Dala desert, northwest and west of Lake Balkhash. IN Soviet times it was called "State Research and Testing Site No. 10 of the USSR Ministry of Defense". The area of the territory is more than 81 thousand square kilometers. Now there are several abandoned unpaved airfields, as well as one operating one - the Kambala military airfield.
The site for the construction of the landfill was chosen carefully: the nearest settlements were several tens or even hundreds of kilometers away; there were no cultivated fields here, the territory was not even suitable for grazing sheep here. Stony waterless desert, where there were many sunny days, was perfect for testing secret weapons that were supposed to withstand American ballistic missiles with a nuclear charge.
The construction of the landfill began in 1956. One of the most secret cities in the country, Priozersk, was built nearby. To develop and test new weapons based on KB-1 (which created the famous new system air defense Moscow "Berkut" - S-25) a Special Design Bureau No. 2 was created. A year after the start of the construction of the test site, the first junk launches of the V-1000 anti-missile for the A-35 experimental anti-missile defense system began. By 1959, a station for detecting ballistic missiles "Danube-2" was deployed here, which was part of the complex of the first Soviet anti-missile system "A". In March 1961, for the first time in the world, the warhead of the R-12 ballistic missile was hit at the Sary-Shagan test site.
Among the weapons that were tested at the test site are the A-35 anti-missile systems (it was created to protect Moscow), the A-135 Amur (it was put on combat duty in 1995), the Aurora with an early warning radar "Neman" and firing radar "Argun". All Soviet and Russian anti-missile systems, which were designed to build defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles, were tested here. Also at the site there was a test facility for the development and testing of high-power combat lasers; there is evidence that they tried to create a microwave weapon.
In the 90s, a significant part of the objects was abandoned, and later looted. In 1996, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the lease of part of the landfill area. Some of the abandoned sites, which have a controversial legal status, have not yet been put in order and not reclaimed. Due to the fact that the territory is not protected, in principle, anyone can visit here. They say that the local population often comes here, who extracts building materials and scrap metal. And sometimes he discovers dangerous finds - for example, abandoned barrels of napalm.
There are no warning signs around the landfill. On the territory leased by Russia, tests are still being carried out. True, much less frequently than before - for example, in March of this year, an RS-12M intercontinental ballistic missile launched from the Kapustin-Yar training ground hit a training target here.
Emba-5, Kazakhstan
The Soviet military air defense range, referred to in the documents as the "11th State Research Test Site of the RF Ministry of Defense", is located ten kilometers from the Emba station in the Aktobe region. It was built in 1960. In the military town of Emba-5 there were residential buildings, a school and a kindergarten, a hospital, shops, its own boiler room and a bakery. A little later, a second-class airfield was built here, where the air regiment was stationed.
The test site was created for testing anti-aircraft missile systems: Krug, Kub, Buk, Osa, Tor, Tunguska and many others. All the latest models of military equipment and weapons, which are still in service with the national army, "passed" through this territory. Military exercises were also held here.
In 1999, the landfill was relocated to Kapustin Yar (Znamensk). The Kazakh authorities renamed Emba-5 to Zhem. From the former power of the landfill, only fragments remained. Most of the buildings are now abandoned and destroyed.
Eighth workshop of the plant "Dagdiesel", Dagestan
The unique "Testing and assembly station for heavy-duty products" - workshop No. 8 of the Dagdiesel plant - is located in the Caspian Sea, at a distance of 2.7 kilometers from the coast. The grand structure was built on a stone foundation laid on the seabed. Its main purpose was to test the products that the factory produced - torpedoes.
The workshop began to be built in 1934, and completed in 1936. The area of the station is five thousand square meters. The construction was carried out in an unprecedented way: on the shore, with the help of dredgers, they dug a huge pit with a capacity of 530 thousand cubic meters. At its bottom, a reinforced concrete "box" was built, having a height of 14 meters. After the underwater part of the station was built, the builders destroyed the artificial embankment that separated the pit from the sea, the "box" surfaced, it was towed almost three kilometers from the shore, where the stone platform was located, and installed on it. On this gigantic array, the surface part of the station was built, with a huge (42 meters high) observation tower. A special elevator delivered workers to it.
The workshop was built in such a way that, in the event of a storm, workers could stay there for a long time. The premises included a canteen, a library, a hotel, a gym for volleyball and basketball. On the shore for the operation of the station, two piers of the port were built, as well as a ship repair shop.
In 1942, the plant was evacuated to Kazakhstan, and the work of shop No. 8 was suspended. And in the 60s, new, more modern torpedoes were developed, which required greater depths for testing. So the station was shut down. The abandoned structure is still located in the Caspian Sea.
Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, Kazakhstan
The first and one of the largest Soviet nuclear test sites is considered a unique territory - it housed the repository of the most modern nuclear weapons. In total, there are four such objects in the world. Previously, the closed city of Kurchatov (Semipalatinsk-21) was located on the territory of the landfill.
For half a century - from 1949 to 1989 - more than 450 nuclear tests were carried out here, about six hundred nuclear and thermonuclear devices were blown up. Explosions were both atmospheric - ground, air, high-altitude, and underground. In January 1965, at the confluence of the Shagan and Ashchisu rivers, an underground explosion was carried out, after which the "Atomic" lake was formed - a funnel more than a hundred meters deep and 400 meters in diameter.
It was at the Semipalatinsk test site that thermonuclear weapons were first tested at a height of 30 meters above the ground. The last explosion occurred at the test site in 1989; closed the same area two years later. Until now, the radioactive background in some parts of the landfill is kept at the level of 10-20 milliroentgens per hour. During the tests, radioactive clouds from 55 air and ground explosions, as well as gas fractions from more than 160 underground tests, came out of the site, which polluted the eastern part of Kazakhstan.
Until 2006, the territory of the landfill was not protected and was not marked with special signs.
Vozrozhdeniye Island, Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
The island, located in the Aral Sea, was a testing ground for bacteriological weapons. The first expedition of military biologists landed here in 1936, and in 1937 they tested bioagents based on plague, cholera and tularemia here.
The Aralsk-7 (Kantubek) military town was built on the island, as well as the Barkhan airfield, which had four unique runways that resembled a wind rose - so that planes could always land, no matter what wind was blowing . In the 40-50s, a women's colony for especially dangerous criminals was located here: according to some reports, experiments could be carried out on prisoners.
In the laboratory complex (the 52nd field research laboratory), tests were carried out on animals - rats, guinea pigs, horses. Large-scale work was carried out here: for example, in the 80s in Africa, 500 monkeys were purchased for research, on which they tested a strain of tularemia. The dead animals were burned.
In the southern part of the island was the world's largest test site, where biological weapons were tested with strains created on the basis of plague, brucellosis, anthrax and many other diseases. The strains were sprayed from an aircraft, or spread by exploding shells. The deadly dangerous cloud that formed as a result of the tests was carried to the side opposite from the military camp. After testing, the area was decontaminated. The work was usually carried out in the warm season, on those days when there was a stable slight wind on the island. By the way, nature itself contributed to the destruction of dangerous viruses and bacteria: in summer, the air temperature here rose to 45 degrees and above, and therefore, after ten days of such heat, the soil was naturally disinfected.
In November 1991, the laboratory was closed and dismantled, and the inhabitants of the island were transported to the mainland. Abandoned military town turned into a "ghost".
nuclear test sitesSemipalatinsk test site. April 21, 1947 A government decree was issued on the creation in the steppes of Kazakhstan (west of Semipalatinsk) of a test site for testing the first Soviet atomic bomb. The construction, which received the code name "Mountain Seismic Station" or "Object-905", was initially carried out by the forces of the Gulag. In August 1947, when the construction was handed over to the military department, 10,000 conscripts were sent here. The training ground was named Training Ground No. 2 of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and later it was renamed the State Central Research and Testing Ground No. 2 (GosTsNIIP-2). In February 1948 in the city of Zvenigorod, Moscow region. the formation of a special military unit 52605 began to provide testing at the test site. Lieutenant General of Artillery P. Rozhanovich became the commander of the unit (the first head of the range) (in September of the same year he was replaced by Major General of Artillery S. Kolesnikov).
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The territory of the polygon was divided into sites (new sites appeared over time): "M" - a military camp; "O" - experimental and scientific part; "P" - "Experimental Field" - where the atomic explosion was supposed to occur; "Sh" - base of testers; "H" - with a complex of buildings for testing. The construction of a military camp was carried out on the left bank of the Irtysh, 130 km away. from Semipalptinsk. The headquarters building of military unit 52605, the House of Officers, a hotel, a two-story mansion for the head of the training ground were built here (L. Beria was accommodated in it in August 1949). Approximately one and a half kilometers from the Irtysh, the experimental and scientific part of the test site was built and fenced. Several buildings were built here, which housed various laboratories. At first, the town was named after the postal address - Moscow, PO Box 400 or Bereg. In 1960 it was renamed Semipalatinsk-21, and later - Kurchatov. |
parameters of a nuclear explosion (YV). In addition, to study the damaging factors of JV, it was created here a large number of various structures: two-story residential buildings, segment railway with a metal bridge and wagons, industrial buildings, sections of subway tunnels (at a depth of 10, 20, 30 m.), fortification and engineering structures, tanks, aircraft, etc. military equipment, built bunkers with animals. On the eastern border of the "Experimental Field" there was a site "H" with buildings and structures intended for the assembly of the product, storage of components and parts of the atomic bomb, apparatus and equipment. Zes was located command post(construction "12P"), which was a reinforced concrete structure lined with earth. There were loopholes through which it was possible to observe the explosion (at the time of the explosion, the loopholes were closed). Five kilometers from the northeastern border of the "Experimental Field", the site "Sh" was built, which housed the power supply system of the "Experimental Field", and living quarters for personnel. During the test, there was a headquarters and a decontamination point on the site. The construction of the first test site of the polygon was completed by the beginning of the summer of 1949. August 29, 1949 on this site, which received the name "P-1", the first test of an atomic charge installed on a tower 37.5 m high was carried out. and having a power of 22Kt. 20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with dosimetric devices went to its very epicenter. The crew was protected from radiation by special lead sheets. Tank reconnaissance found that at the epicenter the radiation was more than 1800 r/h (radiation dose of 600 r in 50% of cases leads to death). In place of the central tower, a funnel 3 m in diameter and 1.5 m deep was formed. Industrial buildings at a distance of up to 50m. from the epicenter were completely destroyed, the railway bridge was torn off its supports and thrown aside. From the railway track connecting the tower with the building where the charge was collected, only those scattered within a radius of 25m remained. pieces of rails, some of them were melted. The building itself was completely destroyed. Within a radius of 25m. from the center, the soil was turned into fine dust, and further on there was an easily broken melted crust. September 24, 1951 in a ground explosion with a power of 38 kt. there was an overexposure of the test personnel of the test site. 30-40 minutes after the explosion, 52 people were in the path of the radioactive cloud and stayed in the contaminated area for more than 1 hour, having received an external radiation dose of about 60 roentgens. In addition, the test subjects had seriously contaminated open areas skin. A few hours later, 40 people from this group showed signs of radiation damage. Here is what a participant in those events, Colonel T. Shevchenko, says: “We moved along the designated route to our facilities and immediately got into a continuous cloud of dust and burning. It was stuffy and hot, but the windows in the car were forbidden to open in order to “protect themselves from penetrating radiation.” We drove obviously not in a tank. “Meanwhile, a huge mushroom began to lean down, losing its shape,... At 5–6 km. from the explosion, individual animals began to come across, which broke off their leash and stupidly wandered in all directions. Their appearance was pitiful and terrible: burned torsos, watery or blinded eyes. They shied away from us with a howl and a groan. Closer to the epicenter of the explosion, streams of molten metal began to appear in the form of many scattered and beautifully melted balls... Mangled military equipment lay all around... What could burn, it burned... From everywhere, moaning, howling and barking of animals were heard . It was a terrible sight." October 18, 1951 The first air test of the RDS-3 atomic bomb was carried out with its release from a Tu-4 aircraft. To do this, a new platform has been prepared. For visual aiming during bombing, crosses made of chalk and white clay were laid out in its center. Corner reflectors for radar sights were also installed here. Explosion with a power of 42kt. occurred at an altitude of 380m. August 12, 1953 At the P-1 site, the first thermonuclear device RDS-6s with a power of 400Kt was tested, mounted on a tower 30m high. A large funnel formed at the site of the explosion and strong radioactive contamination arose. As a result, the site was not used for a long time (only one test was carried out on November 5, 1962 with a power of 0.4 kt.). Ground explosions of low power were carried out at the P-2 site. October 19, 1954 the first time a nuclear weapon failed. After the detonation of the conventional explosive charge, no fission chain reaction took place. As a result, the plutonium was scattered within a radius of 500m. from the center of the explosion. In another 5 out of 30 ground tests, a nuclear device misfired. To test the first thermo nuclear bomb (RDS-37) a new site "P-5" was created at the Semipalatinsk test site, 5 km away. north of the center of the experimental field. Appointed on November 20, 1955 The test did not take place due to the failure of the radar sight of the Tu-16 carrier aircraft (visual aiming was impossible in conditions of dense cloud cover). For the first time in the practice of nuclear testing (NPT), the question arose of landing an aircraft with a thermonuclear experimental bomb on board. The option of dropping the bomb was rejected, since when it hit the ground, an ordinary explosive charge could explode, which would lead to radioactive contamination of the area (the bomb could also fall on a populated area). T. Timoshenko, a participant in the first tests at the Semipalatinsk test site, names another reason for the failed explosion. “... The reason for the emergency was that the signal did not pass to the bomb release system. The specialists removed the block, replaced it with another one, tested it - everything is fine ... The malfunction ... became the reason for serious proceedings. About 40 people were injured at the Leningrad plant where this block was produced. Some were arrested, some were fired, some were tried.” November 22, 1955 bomb with a capacity of 1.6 Mt. was dropped from a Tu-16 aircraft and exploded at an altitude of 1550m. while in the village of Small Akzhary, 55 km. the ceiling in one of the houses collapsed from the epicenter. A three-year-old girl died under the rubble. In an area located 36km. from the epicenter, six soldiers were covered with earth in a trench, one of them died of suffocation. Cases of glazing failure were observed in individual settlements located at a distance of up to 350 km. 2 residents were injured and bruised by glass fragments and building debris. It was the most powerful explosion produced at the Semipalatinsk test site. He clearly showed that for explosions of such power, a new test site in a more "secluded" place is needed. September 10, 1956 A military exercise was held at the Semipalatinsk test site with the practical use of an atomic bomb with a power of 38Kt. The main task was to determine the admissible time and place for the landing of helicopter troops. 1,500 servicemen were involved in the exercise. General management was carried out by Deputy. Minister of Defense for special weapons, Marshal of Artillery M. Nedelin, nuclear technical support was assigned to Colonel General V. Bolyatko, parts of the Airborne Forces were commanded by Lieutenant General S. Rozhdestvensky. 272 people landed directly in the area of the epicenter of the explosion. 27 Mi-4 helicopters were used to deliver the troops. The explosion of a nuclear aerial bomb occurred at the site P-3 of the Experimental Field (detonation height 270 m. ). 25 minutes after the explosion, when the explosion cloud reached its maximum height, radiation reconnaissance patrols (on Mi-4 helicopters and GAZ-69 vehicles) carried out reconnaissance of the explosion area. and reported on the radio about the possibility of landing. The landing line was marked at a distance of 650-1000m. from the epicenter. The level of radiation on the ground at the time of the landing ranged from 0.3 to 5 r / h. Helicopters landed in the designated area 43 minutes after the nuclear explosion. 17 minutes after landing, the landing units reached the rear line, where they entrenched themselves and repulsed the enemy attack. 2 hours after the explosion, a retreat was announced for the exercise, the entire personnel of the landing force with weapons and equipment were subjected to sanitization and decontamination. In 1953-57. Sites "4" and "4A" were used to test radioactive weapons, which were liquid or powdered waste products of radiochemical production, or were prepared by irradiating specially selected substances with neutrons in nuclear reactor. Their dispersal was carried out with the help of artillery and mortar shells, aerial bombs or by spraying from an aircraft. By the beginning of the 60s, the number of test sites of the Experimental Field was increased to six, which made it possible to conduct a series of nuclear tests. It was the explosions at the "Experimental Field" that made the greatest "contribution" to the radioactive contamination of the area. Radioactive trace from the first nuclear explosion on August 29, 1949. with a capacity of only 22kt. covered 11 administrative districts of the Altai Territory. The average individual doses of external exposure to a population group of 4.5 thousand people amounted to about 46 roentgens. August 7, 1962 instead of the planned air nuclear weapons with a capacity of 9.9kt. there was a ground explosion. The mobile group of radiation reconnaissance got into the zone of intense radioactive fallout and received a radiation dose of about 40 r. A radioactive cloud from this explosion also appeared over a residential town. At the time of its passage, the radiation levels in the town were 0.5 - 1R/h. The estimated doses of exposure to the population in this case could reach 1r. During the tests, not only the testers themselves and residents of adjacent areas were exposed to radiation. To cover the range from American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, several air defense missile battalions were deployed on its territory. One of these divisions was located on the so-called "13th" site - 18 km. from the site "Sh". The anti-aircraft missile division is sixty soldiers, a dozen officers, and a dozen more members of their families (women and children). Before the explosion, the testers were taken out of the "Sh" site (only observers remained in shelters), no one was taken out from the "13" site. Close explosions occurred at 18, distant ones at 40-50 km. from "13 sites". For the duration of the nuclear test, families were ordered to open doors and windows, leave the premises and move away from the buildings to a safe distance. - A total of 113 nuclear weapons were produced at the Experimental Field, including 30 ground-based (25 charges exploded) 83 airborne ones. In the late 70s, powerful explosive tests were carried out here using conventional explosives. The last nuclear explosion in the atmosphere was carried out at the Experimental Field on December 24, 1962. In 1958 at 50km. from site "M" construction began on an explosive reactor (RVD), its modern name is IGR (pulse graphite reactor). The reactor was put into operation in 1961. and was intended for testing thermal 
fissile elements and fuel assemblies (FA) of nuclear rocket engine reactors (NRE) and nuclear power plants (NPPs). The IGR bench complex had a closed system for the release of gaseous coolants - the spent coolant was kept in special containers for the time necessary to reduce its activity to acceptable levels. In 1964 a Government Decree was issued on the construction of the Baikal-1 complex at the Semipalatinsk test site for testing nuclear rocket engines. In 1965 Grandiose construction was launched, which was carried out for more than a decade and a half. More than one year was spent on the construction of two mines and two concrete bunkers connected by galleries. In one, located between the shafts, there were instruments, in the other, at a distance of 800 m, the control center. A one and a half kilometer tunnel led from this bunekr to a safe zone (the complex had a closed exhaust). At the first workplace of the Baikal-1 stand complex, since 1976. Group tests of fuel assemblies from the YARD were carried out as part of the IVG-1 reactor (“Research, high-temperature, gas-cooled”). Before starting, the reactor was lowered into the shaft using a gantry crane. After starting, hydrogen was supplied to the reactor, which, cooling it 
heated up to 3000 degrees and burst out of the mine like a fiery stream. There was no strong radioactivity in this stream, but it was not allowed to be outside within a radius of one and a half kilometers during the day. It was impossible to approach the mine itself for a month. All up to 1986. 28 "hot" launches of the IVG-1 reactor were carried out. In total, 178 gas-cooled fuel assemblies were tested as part of 4 experimental cores. The reactor was tested in 1978-1981. In 1977 put into operation second-A working place of the bench complex on which September 17, 1977. The first of the IR reactors was launched (a ground-based prototype of the YARD 11B91 reactor). July 3, 1978 and August 11, 1978. passed its firing tests (OI-1 and OI-2). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two more series of tests were carried out at the bench complex - the second and third 11B91-IR-100 devices. Testing of fuel assemblies in the IGR and IVG reactors continued; second-B working places for testing the engine on liquid hydrogen. May 24, 1968 a government decree was issued on the construction of a bench base (called "Baikal-2") for testing. gas-phase YARD. But neither the engine nor the bench base was built (although design and survey work was carried out at the selected site). Underground nuclear weapons took place at site "D" ("Degelen"), located in the Degelen mountain range. The first underground nuclear explosive in the USSR to develop a methodology for testing new samples of nuclear charges in underground conditions , as well as to test the methods and means of early detection of underground explosions, was carried out in the V-1 adit on October 11, 1961. A charge with a power of 1 kt. was installed at a depth of 125m. in the end box of the adit, which had a length of 380 m, to prevent the breakthrough of radioactive products of the explosion, 3 sections of driving were installed in the adit. The first one is 40m long. consisted of crushed stone backfill and reinforced concrete wall. A pipe was laid through this blockage to bring the fluxes of neutrons and gamma radiation to the sensors of the recording instruments. The second section had a length of 30m. and consisted of reinforced concrete wedges. Third, 10m long. was built at a distance of about 200m. from charge. Closer to the exit, 3 instrument boxes with measuring equipment were placed. Various measuring instruments were also placed on the surface. Experimental animals were placed in the area of the epicenter. As a result of the explosion, the surface of the mountain above the epicenter rose by 4m. A dust cloud formed, caused by a rockfall, but no radioactive contamination was found. October 10, 1963 In Moscow, an agreement was signed between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain on the prohibition of nuclear radiation in three media - in space, air and water. At the same time, the USSR announced a moratorium on underground nuclear weapons. However, other nuclear powers, primarily the United States, did not follow our example in 1964 either. a decision was made to start underground testing. March 15, 1964 in Adit "A-6" at the site "D" of the Semiralatinsk test site, the first underground nuclear test after the exit from the moratorium took place. All in 1964. 7 underground tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site. The "Degelen" site was used to test charges of relatively low power. In total, 215 nuclear explosions were carried out here. Underground nuclear explosions in vertical wells were carried out at site "B" ("Balapan"). In addition, seismic tests of structures and equipment were carried out here with powerful chemical explosions. The well for the production of nuclear explosives was a mine working with a depth of 30 - 600 m. with an initial diameter of up to 1500mm, partially lined with pipes of various diameters, below - an open hole with a diameter of 500-900mm. The test charge was lowered into the lower part of the well along with sensors connected to the recording equipment. To exclude the breakthrough of nuclear explosive products into the atmosphere, the borehole channel was plugged. The first section of the drive was a column of water (or mud) into which the charge was immersed. At a depth of about 60m. the first cement or sand-cement plug up to 10 borehole diameters was created. Sand was poured over the first plug, then a second cement or sand-cement plug was placed. Above the second plug, the well was covered with sand up to the mouth. The first nuclear explosive in the USSR in a well was produced at the Balapan site on January 15, 1965. The purpose of the explosion was to study the possibility of using nuclear weapons to create artificial reservoirs. The confluence of the Chagan and Ashi-Su rivers (the first flows into the Irtysh) was chosen for the experiment. The charge power was 140Kt. laying depth 178m. As a result of the explosion, a funnel with a diameter of 400-500m was formed. and a depth of about 100m. The rock heap around the funnel reached 40 m. The level of gamma radiation at the edges of the funnel by the end of the first day was 30 r/hour, after 10 days it fell to 1 r/hour. In the spring of the same year, the funnel was connected to the river by a canal built in the usual way, although the cabs of the bulldozers were sheathed with lead sheets. The resulting lake was popularly called Atom-Kol (Atomic Lake), it is also known as Lake Balapan. Another reservoir arose in the floodplain of the river, blocked by a rampart from the explosion. A few years later, the lake was inhabited by a variety of fish species, and the local population began to use the water from it for watering livestock. Radioactive contamination of the lake water in the late 90s. 20 times higher than the norm (according to the total radioactivity of alpha particles). However, according to the memoirs of I. Turchin, who led the preparation of the charge and its detonation, “... the water in the reservoir was clean: we repeatedly swam in it, caught and ate carp (I am healthy, I feel good, although I am already 75 years old, and then there was no and 50). A resident of the nearby village of Semey (now more than 80 years old) says that they often brought fish from the lake, it was so large and appetizing that people snapped it up in a matter of seconds. Now the waters of the Chagan River are 10 km long. outside the landfill are contaminated with radioactive tritium (the dose of tritium radiation is a hundred times higher than the natural background). Residents of nearby villages bathe in the river and fish. Institute specialists radiation safety and the ecology of Kazakhstan do not associate the contamination of the river with the Atomic Lake. They consider the underground runoff, which comes from the territory of the Semipalatinsk test site, to be the main factor in the penetration of tritium into the water of the river. For all time 118 wells were drilled on the site, 10 of which remained unused. in 107, nuclear devices with a power of up to 150 kt were blown up. A charge was lowered into one well, but they did not have time to blow it up. Explosions in vertical wells were also carried out at site "C" ("Sary-Uzen"), located in the Murzhik tract. "peaceful" nuclear weapons were also carried out here with the ejection of soil. It was here on October 14, 1965. A second nuclear explosion was produced for ejection with a power of 1.1 kt. (well 1003). For the period from 1965 to 1980. at least 19 underground nuclear weapons were carried out; some sources speak of 23 tests. On site "G" there was a settlement of testers, mining and construction and installation organizations that provided work on site "D". On site "B-2" or "New Balapan" there was a settlement of testers, drilling and construction and installation organizations that provided work on site "B". October 21, 1968 in the Tel'kem tract (east of site "D"), in order to study the excavation action of nuclear explosives, an underground explosion was carried out under the code name "Telkem" with a capacity of 0.24 Kt. The charge was laid at a depth of 31m. The explosion led to the formation of a funnel with a diameter of 80 and a depth of 20m. November 12, 1968 a second test was carried out ("Telkem-2") with the simultaneous detonation of three nuclear charges (0.24Kt each), laid every 40m. As a result of the explosion, a trench was formed in the form of a trench 140 m long, 70 m wide and 16 m deep. Soon they switched from experiments to the practical use of nuclear weapons. March 23, 1971 on the projected route of the Pechora-Kolvinsky Canal (to transfer Pechora waters to the Caspian Sea) in the Perm Region. 100 km north-west of the city of Krasnovishersk, three nuclear charges with a capacity of 15 kt each were detonated, laid at a distance of 162–167 m. from each other at a depth of 127m. As a result of the explosion, a channel 700 long, 340 wide, 10-15 m deep was formed. At site “A” (“Aktan-Burley”), dozens of experiments were carried out in which incomplete chain reactions, not related to the category of nuclear weapons. These are hydrodynamic (explosive experiments with nuclear charges in which no nuclear energy is released) and hydronuclear (when the amount of released nuclear energy is comparable to the charge energy of a conventional explosive) tests. Such experiments were carried out in order to ensure the nuclear explosion safety of charges in emergency situations. The first such experiment was carried out on August 26, 1957. In August 1974 A complex of experimental facilities was put into operation at the test site to test the resistance of silo launchers and underground fortified command posts to the effects of nuclear explosives. The main part of all nuclear research in the USSR was carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site. From 1949 to 1989 at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out here, in which at least 616 charges were detonated (detonation of several charges located in a spatial volume with a diameter of no more than 2 km. with a time interval of no more than 0.1 second is considered one nuclear test). 125 explosions were carried out in the atmosphere (26 ground, 91 air). Underground, 343 tests were carried out (215 in adits and 128 in wells). As a result of nuclear radiation, the region suffered significant environmental damage. The population was subjected to radiation exposure, which eventually led to diseases, premature deaths, and genetic damage. And now, in the hazardous areas of the former test site, the radioactive background reaches 0.01-0.02 r/h. Despite this, people still live on the landfill. The population uses most of the landfill land for livestock grazing. On the territory of the landfill, 8 peasant farms are engaged in crop production, which produce about 2.8 thousand tons per year. grain, 130t. potatoes, 70t. vegetables, 230t. sunflower seeds, harvested 25 thousand tons. hay. After the collapse of the Union, the landfill was closed by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev dated August 29, 1991. Work at the test site was stopped so suddenly that one of the nuclear devices lowered into the well remained there until 1995, when it was destroyed (without a nuclear reaction). Since 1994 when the last Russian military units left the training ground, poverty reigned on its territory, 
chaos and destruction. The vast territory of the landfill was left unguarded, and scrap collectors combed the tunnels in search of copper wire. According to the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan, about 10 people died after climbing into the tunnels. April 1996 The National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan and the Nuclear Safety Agency under the US Department of Defense signed an agreement, according to which Kazakh and American specialists began to eliminate 186 tunnels and adits where tests were carried out. The Americans are concerned about fissile materials and fission products remaining in the adits. 295 nuclear weapons were detonated in the Degelen mountains, while at least 70% of the fissile materials remained in the adit laughing with the molten rock. Terrorists simply need to type it in and then use it to make a "dirty" bomb. On initial stage the problem seemed to be completely solved. By 1999 only a few tunnels remained unwalled. But by 2004 110 of the 181 tunnels have been rediscovered by local metal hunters. With the help of bulldozers and explosives, they removed 50-meter plugs from reinforced concrete. In 2003 Kazakh representatives told a Science reporter about Operation Groundhog, in which plutonium-contaminated land was covered with a two-meter layer of reinforced concrete. In 2008 construction work has begun engineering protection some of the most contaminated areas of the landfill to prevent access to them by the population and livestock. In 2009 organized by the army guard test site "Degelen". Now the city of Kurchatov, which was on the verge of death, has changed. The National Nuclear Center operates here, industrial buildings, laboratories, office centers, and scientific institutions have been built and restored. There is a museum dedicated to the Semipalatinsk test site in Kurchatov. From here the tour of the range begins. The next sightseeing object is the house where the head of the nuclear program, the head of the KGB of the USSR, L. Beria, stayed. At the test site itself, tourists are shown the remains of a scientific center where nuclear devices were assembled, sites of underground nuclear weapons. Sites of ground explosions can only be seen from a distance. Novaya Zemlya test site. At the end of the 1940s, in connection with the advent of nuclear weapons, it became necessary to study the effects of nuclear weapons on warships. The Semipalatinsk test site was not suitable for these purposes. In the early 1950s, a torpedo with a nuclear charge was developed, and a sea test site was needed for its full-scale testing. to select the location of a new nuclear test site in 1953. A commission was set up under the chairmanship of Rear Admiral N. Sergeev, Commander of the White Sea Military Flotilla. The choice fell on located in the North Arctic Ocean archipelago - the islands of Novaya Zemlya. The nearest large settlement, the village of Amderma, was located 300 km. from the landfill, Arkhangelsk, more than 1000 km. Murmansk - more than 900 km. It is the remoteness of the island from major settlements and its sparsely populated areas were decisive in choosing the location of the new landfill. 
July 31, 1954 Decree of the Council of Ministers on the creation of a test site on Novaya Zemlya was issued. To ensure construction and installation work at this facility, the construction department Spetsstroy-700 was created. During the year, "Object 700" was subordinate to the commander of the White Sea Flotilla, and on August 12, 1955. was subordinate to the Head of the 6th Directorate of the Navy. September 17, 1954 the organizational structure of the new compound was approved, that date is considered the birthday of the test site. The landfill received its official name on April 18, 1955. when the resolution “On ensuring the testing of the T-5 product at the Marine Research and Testing Range of the Moscow Region” was issued. Belushya, Litke, Krasino trading stations were closed, and the population (about a dozen families) were relocated to the village of Lagernoye in the Matochkin Shar Strait (then it was believed that the landfill would not expand). At the same time, hunters-fishers were allowed to hunt, in their free time from testing, on fishing grounds in the area of the test site. By the end of August 1955 the main facilities of the first stage of the test site were built: - in zone “A” (Chernaya Bay, where the tests were to be carried out) this is a command post, headquarters, a canteen, a village for testers, 19 coastal instrument stations and stands, 2 relay points for automatic control , hydrotechnical, engineering and experimental facilities of antiamphibious defense; - in zone "B" (Belushya Bay) - radiochemical, physical-technical, medical-biological, film-phototechnical laboratories, a special facility for charge assembly, office, storage, residential, household premises; - in the "B" zone (Rogachev Bay) - an airfield with a metal strip for basing a fighter aviation regiment, a mixed squadron special purpose(for filming, air sampling, radioactive cloud tracking, etc.) and a transport aviation squadron. During the tests, helicopters were also based here. 
September 1, 1955 "Object-700" was ready to conduct the first underwater nuclear test. Ships of various classes came under their own power to Chernaya Bay to be used as targets. The test product was assembled in a special facility on the shore of the Rogachev Bay. Then it (in the body of the combat charging compartment of the torpedo) was delivered by minesweeper to Chernaya Bay. September 21, 1955 At 10:00 a.m., the first underwater nuclear test in the USSR (at a depth of 12 m) was carried out at the Northern test site. According to the recollections of one of the participants in this test, “Sultan stood up instantly and froze, with the exception of the upper part, where, slowly, a mushroom cap began to form. The pillar from the inner glow was white- 
white. I have never seen such whiteness. Then the sultan began to slowly collapse from above, to fall off. We did not feel the shock wave, some kind of breeze passed. But the run of the underwater shock wave along the surface of the water was very clearly visible. The explosion killed the destroyer closest to the epicenter. Cameras installed on a neighboring ship recorded its rise into the air from the influence of the Sultan, fall into the water and sink. State Commission in her report, she wrote down the conclusion that the “Object-700” can carry out not only underwater explosions in the autumn-summer period, but also tests of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere with practically no power limitation and throughout the entire season . In March 1956 a government decree was issued on preparations for testing a super-powerful thermonuclear charge (up to 25 Mt.). For these tests, "Zone D" was created on the Dry Nose Peninsula (northern coast of Mityushikha Bay). On the battlefield, which received the index "D-2". At distances of about 3.5 km. three armored casemates were built from the center of the field to accommodate recording equipment. These structures were successfully operated during all air nuclear weapons (only one of them was put out of action on October 23, 1961 after an explosion with a capacity of 12.5 Mt.). The berth and warehouses on the coast of the Mityushikha Bay received the designation "D-1" and there were also sources of electricity. On the site "D-4" located on about. Mityushov, there was a repeater for transmitting signals to control the automation of the experimental field. On the site "D-8" in the Gribovaya Bay there was a command post. Another experimental field (for the fall of warhead missiles) was prepared at the D-3 site, but subsequently it was not used. In August 1956 it was decided to postpone the conduct of super-powerful tests on Novaya Zemlya, and in May 1957. an interdepartmental commission was created from specialists from the Ministry of Defense, Minsredmash, the Academy of Sciences, the Northern Sea Route and the Hydrometeorological Service, which was tasked with exploring the islands of Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, as well as the coast of the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea (from the bay Tiksi to the Kolyma River) in order to search for places suitable for carrying out super-powerful aerial nuclear weapons. And on the field "D-2" in 1957. carried out tests of charges of the megaton class. To do this, the inhabitants of Lagerny had to be resettled again. In 1957 298 people were resettled (to the city of Arkhangelsk, Amderma and Kolguev Island). September 24, 1957 an air explosion with a power of 1.6 Mt was carried out on the D-2 field. and on October 6 with a capacity of 2.6 Mt. IN contemporary literature the air test zone is usually designated as zone "B". In zone "A", on the eastern coast of Chernaya Bay, two fields were equipped. "A-7" for air testing of products with a capacity of up to 50Kt. and “A-6” for conducting “Physical Experiment No. 3”, the main purpose of which was to study the effectiveness of the impact of gamma-neutron radiation on naval facilities and animals. September 7, 1957 on a tower 15m high. at 100m. from the shore, a device with a capacity of 32kt was blown up. this is the only ground explosion on Novaya Zemlya. Until now, in the area of the former tower, the level is up to one milliroentgen per hour. This area has been declared a sanitary-exclusion zone. The water area of Chernaya Bay was not used for a long time for nuclear research due to reasons of radiation safety, its further use was recognized as inexpedient and in 1964. she was closed. Later, a platform was created between the Chernaya gboa and the Bashmachnaya bay (sometimes it is called the “Yu” site) for conducting underground nuclear explosions in wells. The first of them took place on July 27, 1972. in the well "Yu-3". September 12, 1973 in the Yu-1 well, in Chernaya Mountain, the most powerful underground test in the USSR (up to 10 Mt.) was carried out; mountain range. An avalanche of rocks with a total volume of over 50 million cubic meters. and blocked the river valley and formed a lake of glacial water. In 10-12 minutes after the explosion, radioactive gases leaked into the atmosphere, but there was no release of primary radioactive aerosols. In total, 6 nuclear explosions in the atmosphere and under water (1 surface, 2 surface and 3 underwater) and 6 nuclear explosions in wells were carried out in zone A. Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of March 5, 1958 No. The Marine Scientific Testing Ground was transformed into the State Central Testing Ground No. 6 (6GTsP) of the USSR Ministry of Defense. The "capital" of the landfill was the village of Belushya Guba in 1959. the garrison House of Officers was built here. By the end of 1960. living conditions have improved significantly. New stone houses and hotels appeared, roads were laid. Meanwhile, after two years of searching, the interdepartmental commission came to the conclusion that for super-powerful nuclear weapons best place than Novaya Zemlya cannot be found. But for such tests, it was necessary to move even further north, away from the mainland. The relief of the northern tip of the island ( high mountains with eternal glaciers) did not allow placing the combat field at the maximum distance from the mainland, so it was placed to the north of Mityushikha Bay, at a distance of 27 km. from the field "D-2". But in 1959 The USSR announced a moratorium on nuclear research in the air, under water and in space. Therefore, in October-November 1959. near the mouth of the river. Shumilikha, (on the southern coast of the Matochkin Shar Strait), survey work began on the subject of the possibility of conducting underground nuclear tests. In January 1960 construction of a special geophysical station began. With the beginning of navigation in 1960. mining work began. Five adits were laid: - "G", originally intended for the explosion of 200 tons of ammatol; - "B" - for the explosion of a calibration nuclear charge with a capacity of about 1 kt; - "A-1", "A-2", "A-3" - for testing experimental nuclear charges. The new area of underground testing was designated zone "D-9" (in modern literature it is designated as zone "C"), the village was given the name Severny. By May 1961 was 
the tunneling of adit "G" about 200 m long was completed, the tunneling of adit "B" was completed and a large amount of work was carried out on adits of type "A" (design length 1-2 km.). But in the summer of 1961 the Soviet government decided to withdraw from the moratorium, the construction was mothballed. The head of the range, Major General of Artillery Kudryavtsev, was given the command before September 1, 1961. to prepare the test site for air and underwater explosions using rocket and torpedo weapons with nuclear munitions, which are in service with the army and navy, as well as testing prototypes of ammunition. Preparations for underground testing were resumed only in August 1963. just before the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in three environments. The first explosion of an experimental thermonuclear charge after the lifting of the moratorium (Operation Air) was carried out on the D-2 combat field on September 10. Thermonuclear bomb with a power of 2.7 Mt. was dropped from a Tu-95 aircraft that took off from the Olenya airfield (near Murmansk). On the topic "Air", explosions with a large energy release took place on September 14, 18, 20 and 22, 1961. Then there was a ten-day break due to the weather, when planes and helicopters could not fly (the same break was in mid-October). The first and third decades of October became tense - on 2, 4, 6, 8, 23, 25, 30 and twice 31 experimental charges were tested. At the same time, exercises of the Ministry of Defense began with the use of samples of nuclear weapons in service with the Air Force, Navy and Ground Forces. On this occasion, the newspapers reported that in accordance with the combat training plan in September - October 1961. in the Barents and Kara Seas Northern Fleet together with the Rocket Forces and Air force exercises will be conducted with the actual application of various kinds modern weapons. Further, dangerous areas were announced for the navigation of ships, vessels and aircraft flights in the period from September 10 to October 15. Combat firing began with the launch of operational-tactical missiles (Operation Volga). Some sources talk about the Luna complex, but most likely they were R-11 missiles. For these firings, the A-8 combat field was equipped on the eastern coast of Chernaya Bay. The starting position was organized in the Rogachevo area. On September 5, 6, two missiles with a non-nuclear warhead were launched for sighting. The first launch with a nuclear charge took place on 10 September. The missile hit the central part of the combat field. The power of the explosion was 12kt. During the second launch, on September 13, the height of the explosion was lower, which made it possible to compare the effectiveness of the impact of explosions at different heights on the same objects. Because of this, despite half the power, radioactive contamination appeared on the battlefield, the test field had to be mothballed and there were no more tests on it. Conducted by the Institute of Applied Geophysics in September 1977. Checking the radiation situation in this area determined radiation doses that are practically equal to the background values. The missilemen of the Strategic Missile Forces (Operation Rose) were the second to go into live firing. To participate in them, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshal K. Moskalenko and the head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Moscow Region, Colonel-General V. Bolyatko, arrived in Novaya Zemlya. The batteries of the 181st regiment of the 51st missile division of the 50th missile army were involved in the firing (later the regiment was sent to Cuba). Two field starting positions were located in the areas east of Vorkuta and near Salekhard. Shooting was carried out on the combat field "D-2". During the operation, it was planned to make three launches. The first - "idle" - for "shooting". The next two - with nuclear charges of different powers. The dates of these launches are not exactly known, according to various sources, they are September 10, 12, 1961, and September 12, 16, and September 14, 18. The first rocket with a charge of more than 1 Mt, launched from near Vorkuta, deviated significantly from the center of the field. The explosion occurred at a height that excluded significant radioactive contamination of the area. At the second start, the deviation was small. The power of the second explosion turned out to be somewhat less, but since the height of the explosion was also less, a large amount of soil was drawn into the radioactive cloud, causing significant contamination of the area (the explosions on October 14 and 16 are more consistent with this description). The combat firing of the Navy (Operation "Rainbow") included two launches of R-13 ballistic missiles, from a submarine (from the surface) with a warhead in the configuration "K" (control) and in standard combat configuration. The launch was carried out from the central part of the Barents Sea from the K-102 submarine of project 629 at a distance of 530 km. Sighting shooting took place on October 19, and the live missile was launched the next day. The weather conditions were unfavorable - due to continuous cloud cover, the submarine was unable to determine its place in the sea, which affected the accuracy of shooting. The warhead (warhead) of the control missile arrived at the combat field with an increased (but acceptable) deflection. They did not correct the initial shooting data. The nuclear explosion took place with a small deviation from the first non-nuclear explosion, and the height was about 1000 m, the power was about 1.5 Mt. Operation Coral involved firing torpedoes equipped with nuclear charges from the B-130 submarine (Project 641). On October 21, firing was carried out with two practical torpedoes (after passing the distance, the torpedo floats up) and one torpedo with a conventional explosive. On October 23, the first firing of a torpedo equipped with a nuclear charge was made, with an explosion at a depth of 25m. On October 26, they fired a torpedo with a conventional explosive, and on October 27, a nuclear torpedo with an explosion on the surface of the water. The shooting distance in all cases was the same - 12.5 km. October 30, 1961 On Novaya Zemlya, the most powerful nuclear explosion in history with a capacity of about 50 Mt was carried out, called "Kuzkin's mother". The explosion destroyed the village of Lagernoye, a town of builders and miners in the D-9 zone, and disabled the instrumentation facilities at the D-2 field. The final part of this series of tests was continued in the area of the coast of the Kara Sea with a simplified registration system using equipment placed on aircraft. August 22, 1962 A Tu-16 naval aviation aircraft launched a K-10S anti-ship cruise missile (Operation Flurry) at a target in the area of Bashmachnaya Bay. The power of the surface nuclear explosion was 6Kt. Some sources say that such an operation was carried out on October 8, 1961. (a cruise missile was launched from a distance of 100 km against a minesweeper in the region of Cape Cherny), but this date is most likely erroneous since the height of this explosion was 1.5 km. Another exercise of the Strategic Missile Forces was held in 1962. (Operation "Tulip"), when one or two launches of R-14 missiles with a nuclear warhead were made from a field starting position south of Chita. The launches were carried out by the 1st division of the Priekulsky missile regiment of the Vitebsk missile division. One of the tests took place on September 8 (explosion power 1.9 Mt.). The last explosion in the atmosphere at the Novaya Zemlya test site was carried out on December 25, 1962. and the first underground explosion was carried out on October 18, 1964, in adit “G” located in zone “D-9” (the adit was ready for testing in mid-May 1963, but due to the moratorium, tests were not carried out). The next explosion took place on October 25, 1964. in hall "B". November 1968 at the northern site, an underground test was conducted during which three megaton-class thermonuclear devices, laid in the A-3 adit in Mount Sheludivaya, were to be detonated. However, one of the charges did not work. The issue of the A-3 adit was resolved for two years, and in 1970. it was decided to open it to establish the cause of the failure of the charge. Mining operations were carried out in conditions of radioactive contamination in the immediate vicinity of the recently conducted nuclear explosions. Nevertheless, the task was completed. It was found that there was no contact in one of the electrical connectors of the detonation circuit, after which the charge was partially disassembled and removed from the adit. Even underground nuclear weapons did not provide complete radiation safety. The largest accidents occurred on Novaya Zemlya. October 14, 1969 an hour after the nuclear explosion in the adits A-7 and A-9 (with a total capacity of 540Kt.), at some distance from the adit A-9, a gas and dust column 350 m high escaped. and 50m in diameter. which, after cooling, went down the slope of the mountain to the valley of the Shumilikha river and along it went to the Matochkin Shar strait. The level of gamma radiation amounted to several hundred R/hour. Only after 40-60 minutes the personnel was evacuated to a safe place. More than 80 people received a dose of about 40 rubles. A total of 344 test participants were affected. After 10 days, the victims were transferred to a Moscow hospital to undergo a medical examination. Now the radiation in this area is characterized as close to the background level. When held on August 2, 1987. Five charges with a power of 0.001 to 150 kt were simultaneously detonated in the A-37A adit. After 1.5 min. after the explosion, there was a breakthrough of the gas-vapor mixture. On the day of the test, the weather was calm, so the radioactive cloud hovered over the technological platform for a long time, the dose rate was about 500 R/h. This caused the exposure of the personnel of the landfill. In total, in the D-9 zone (33 tests were carried out in adits. In total, during the existence of the test site (until 1990), 130 tests were carried out on it (88 in the atmosphere, 3 underwater and 39 underground). The last of them took place on October 24 1990 Now, in connection with the moratorium on nuclear testing announced by the order of the President of the Russian Federation of October 26, 1991. , the test site is mothballed (on it, from time to time, only experiments are carried out without nuclear energy release in the interests of ensuring the safety and reliability of Russia's nuclear arsenal). In February 1992 the polygon was renamed to the Central polygon Russian Federation(CP RF). Totsky polygon September 14, 1954 A military exercise was held at the Totsk training ground, during which a 40-kt nuclear weapon was produced. Approximately 45,000 people were involved in the teaching. military personnel, 600 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 500 guns and mortars, 600 armored personnel carriers, 320 aircraft, 6,000 tractors and vehicles. Marshal G. Zhukov led the exercise. To reduce radioactive contamination, the explosion was carried out at an altitude of 350m. Five days before the start of the exercise, all troops and local residents were withdrawn from the zone with a radius of about 8 km. from the center of the explosion. Guards were posted around the perimeter. By September 1, 1954 everything was ready for the start of the exercise. Three hours before the atomic explosion, the population in a zone with a radius of 8 to 12 km. was taken to natural shelters (ravines, ravines), and from the zone located along the course of the carrier aircraft (20 km long and 10 km wide) over which the aircraft flew with an open bomb bay, it was taken out to safe areas. The troops occupied the initial areas: "Western" (defending) at a distance of 10-12 km from the intended center of the atomic explosion, and "Eastern" (advancing) at 5 km. before the explosion The head units of the attackers were withdrawn from the first trench. At 9 o'clock. 25 minutes the troops occupied shelters and shelters. The atomic bomb exploded at 9:35 am. Five minutes after that, 
artillery preparation and air strikes began. At the same time, individual aircraft were forced to cross the stem of the “atomic mushroom” 20 minutes after the explosion. In order to determine the levels of radiation, dosimetric patrols of radiation reconnaissance arrived in the area of the explosion 40 minutes later (on a tank). At 10 hours and 10 minutes, the "Eastern" attacked the positions of the imaginary enemy. The resistance of the first two lines of defense was simulated by specially appointed representatives. Around 12, the forward detachment of the "Eastern" went to the area of the atomic explosion. After 10-15 minutes, units of the first echelon advance to the same area, but to the north and south of the epicenter of the explosion. The contamination of the area on the way of the movement of the columns did not exceed 0.1 R/h, and during the movement the personnel could receive a dose of about 0.02-0.03 R. During the exercise, atomic strikes were simulated twice by detonating conventional explosives. At 16 o'clock the troops were given a retreat. After the end of the exercises, decontamination and dosimetric control of people and equipment were carried out. A non-disclosure agreement for 25 years was taken from the participants of the exercise, which led to the fact that the victims could not tell doctors about the causes of numerous diseases and receive adequate treatment. Object "Galit" Near the village of Azgir, Guryev region. Kazakhstan since 1964 work was launched to develop a technology for creating large-volume cavities in rock salt massifs with the help of underground nuclear weapons to use them as storage facilities. During the period 1966-79. 17 tests were carried out at the Azgir test site during which in wells with a depth of 161 to 1491m. 22 nuclear charges with a capacity of 0.01 to 103kt were blown up. Some tests were repeated in cavities formed by previous explosions. The tests were carried out on 10 sites. As a result, 10 cavities were formed with a volume from 10 thousand to 240 thousand cubic meters. The cavities on the sites "A-7, -8, -10, -11" were formed by group explosions. At the A-9 site, as a result of a significant deviation of the well from the vertical, a sinkhole with a diameter of 600 and a depth of 35 m was formed. At present, the cavities at the sites "A-1 - A-5" are filled with water, "A-7" and "A-10" are partially flooded, "A-8" and "A-11" are dry. The Agazir test site was not a military facility and was under the jurisdiction of the Caspian Mining and Chemical Combine. Polygon Kapustin Yar From the Kapustin Yar test site in the period 1956-1962. 11 launches of missiles with nuclear charges were made. January 19, 1957 A Type 215 anti-aircraft guided missile (SAM) (developed at the Lavachkinan Design Bureau for the Moscow air defense system) with a nuclear warhead designed to combat the main US nuclear strike force, strategic aviation, was tested at the test site. Previously, a series of rocket launches with charge models was carried out. The aiming point was a radio transponder dropped by a support aircraft before launch by parachute. To record the parameters of nuclear weapons, two radio-controlled Il-28 aircraft were sent to the area of the detonation point in such a way that at the time of the explosion they were at a distance of 500 and 1000 m. From him. At the same time, the aircraft served as targets. In the near zone, registration was provided by devices installed in containers that were dropped from aircraft by parachute. At the time of the explosion, 12 of them were located approximately at the height of the explosion at various distances, and 4 were located at other heights. The power of the explosion was 10kt. height 10.4 km. As a result of the explosion, both target aircraft were shot down. One of them caught fire, the other, walking towards shock wave , the wing broke off. In order to determine the possible damage to ground defense objects during such an explosion, wooden structures were built in the area of its epicenter (the exact place of the explosion is not named). Not a single case of a noticeable impact of the explosion on wooden structures and their glazing was recorded. September 6, 1961 Another missile launch was carried out (the type is not named) with a nuclear charge with a capacity of 11Kt. The conditional name of the test is Operation Thunderstorm. The aiming point was a corner reflector mounted on the balloon. In addition, containers were installed on the balloon (suspended), equipped with measuring instruments for recording the parameters of nuclear explosions. The height of the explosion was 22.7 km. In addition to the combat missile, two more ZUR 207AT equipped with recording and telemetry equipment were used in the operation (one of them passed near the center of the explosion 10 seconds after it, the other passed 2 km below the point of explosion. During the operation "Groza" for the first time radar observations of missiles (SAM 207AT) were carried out in the conditions of interference arising from nuclear weapons. On October 6, 1961, Operation Thunder was carried out in order to obtain experimental data on the destructive effect of nuclear weapons in the interests of missile defense. A nuclear charge with a capacity of 40 kt was delivered to the point of detonation at an altitude of 41.3 km by the R-5 missile along a trajectory close to vertical.To register the parameters of nuclear weapons in the near zone and obtain direct data on its damaging effect on an object that fell into this zone, containers were used, placed on the rocket body under On a signal from the automatic charge detonation system, they were separated from the rocket and at the time of the explosion had to be at a certain distance from it. It was measured by the length of the cable pulled by the container from the sensor device (in fact, the containers were at a distance of 140-150 m from the center of the explosion). In the future, they freely fell to the ground where they were picked up by search services. Two ZUR 207AT were also used to measure the parameters of the explosion. At the time of the explosion, they were at altitudes of 31 km. and 39km. at a distance of about 40 km. from the center of the explosion. The exact place where the charges were detonated for these three launches is not known, but judging by the flight path of the R-5 rocket (close to vertical) and the range of the missiles, they were located above the Kapustin Yar test site. For the next two launches, only their dates, the power of the charges and the height of the explosion are known: November 1 and 3, 1958. - 10Kt. 6.1 km. In the period 1961-1962. In order to study the physical processes accompanying high-altitude nuclear explosions, to study issues related to the creation of anti-missile defense systems, to test the influence of nuclear explosions on radio communications and radar facilities and rocket technology, a series of nuclear explosions was carried out in space and at high altitude. Operations received a general symbol "K" with indices from 1 to 5. October 27, 1961. two launches of R-12 medium-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads with a capacity of 1.2kt were carried out - operations "K-1" and "K-2". The explosion was carried out on the descending part of the trajectory at the moment the rocket reached an altitude of 150 and 300 km. respectively. Measurement of the parameters of nuclear weapons was carried out by devices installed in a container, which was placed on the body of a combat missile. The container was covered with a heat-resistant asbestos-textolite coating and had the shape of a biconvex lens with a diameter of 525 mm and a thickness of 215 mm. and weighing 130kg. The required distance of the container from the center of the explosion (400 m) was achieved by a time delay between the separation of the warhead and the detonation of the charge. With a delay of 2.5 minutes, R-12 missiles were launched along the same trajectory in the warhead of which two containers were installed the same as on the combat missile. After separation, the instrument containers fell freely to the ground (to search for them, search groups were created on helicopters equipped with gamma radiometers). In addition, the warhead of these missiles was used as a target for interception in nuclear war conditions by the V-1000 “system A” anti-missile (with a telemetric warhead). launched from the Sary-Shagan test site. October 22, October 28 and November 1, 1962 3 more thermonuclear explosions were carried out: "K-3" at an altitude of 290 km. "K-4" - at an altitude of 150 km. and "K-5" - at an altitude of 59 km. with a capacity of 300 kt. R-12 rockets were also used to deliver nuclear charges and record the parameters of explosions. There were already two “registering” missiles, they were launched in 50 and 350 seconds. after the start of combat. These missiles are also used as objects for observation by radar stations operating in different wavelength ranges. In operations "K-2" and "K-3", geophysical rockets R-5V were also used to compare the parameters of the atmosphere before and after the nuclear explosion. To do this, along a trajectory close to vertical (the launch pad was located near the epicenter), one such rocket was launched with the expectation that at the time of the nuclear explosion they would be at the top point of their trajectory (approximately at an altitude of 500 km.). The signals from the sensors were transmitted to the receiving station of the telemetry system, located in the area of the rocket launch. The spacecraft Kosmos-3, -5, -7, -11 were also involved in the K-3 and K-4 operations. In the K-4 operations, it was planned to use two R-9 intercontinental missiles, which were to be launched from ground-based launchers at the Tyura-Tam test site (Baikonur) as part of flight design tests and pass as close as possible to the center of the explosion. At the same time, it was supposed to investigate the reliability of the radio control system. But in both cases, the launch ended in an accident a few seconds after the launch. Information about these tests is still only indirect (official documents about them will remain closed for a long time). Various sources say that the epicenters of the explosions were over the Sary Shagan test site and over the Semipalatinsk test site. But the warheads of the R-12 missiles could not be located above these ranges at altitudes of 60-150 and even more so 300 km. Foreign sources have a diagram from which it is clear that at least the K-3 operation was carried out over the area west of Dzhezkazgan. The location of the K-5 operations can be judged from the memoirs of the designer of rocket technology B. Chertok, who at that time was at the Tyuratam training ground. In the book “Rockets and people. Fili-Podlipki-Tyuratam” he writes: “November 1 was a clear cold day... At 2:15 pm (Moscow time), with a bright sun in the northeast, a second sun flared up. According to the map, it was 500 kilometers to the place of the explosion.” This is also the district of Dzhezkazgan. According to eyewitnesses, the explosions were accompanied by beautiful optical effects, however, photographs of these nuclear explosives could not be found, therefore, here is a photo 
Kansk high-altitude YaV. In addition to the optical one, other effects were also observed. An electromagnetic pulse caused a current of 2500A in the Dzhezkazgan-Zharyk overhead telephone line, which burned all the fuses. Moreover, it penetrated under the surface of the earth and caused the loading of the armored cable of the Akmola-Alma-Ata power line and the ignition of the line switches at the Karaganda power plant, which led to a fire. Thus, 5 high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out over the Kapustin Yar test site, and 5 more explosions were carried out in space and at a very high altitude (which excluded significant contamination of the territories under the explosion site) over central Kazakhstan. About the eleventh missile launch from the Kapustin Yar test site (more precisely, the first) a little lower. Nuclear calls outside the ranges. A ground-based nuclear explosion in the sands of the Aral Karakum (east of Aralsk) was carried out on February 2, 1956. The nuclear charge (RDS-4) was delivered by an R-5M rocket launched from the Kapustin Yar test site (a range of almost 1200 km. The charge power was small - 0.3 Kt.). The operation was called "Baikal". For the first time in the world, a nuclear charge was delivered to the target by a rocket. The automatic detonation worked flawlessly. The number of nuclear weapons includes 124 nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes, of which 100 of them were carried out outside the test sites listed above (Arkhangelsk region - 4, Astrakhan region - 15, Bashkir ASSR - 6, Ivanovo region - 1, Irkutsk region - 2, Kalmyk ASSR - 1, Kemerovo region - 1, Komi ASSR - 4, Krasnoyarsk region - 9, Murmansk region - 2, Orenburg region - 5, Perm region - 8, Stavropol region - 1, Tyumen region - 8, Chita region - 1, Yakut ASSR - 12, Kazakh SSR - 17, Uzbek SSR - 2, Ukrainian SSR - 2, Turkmen SSR - 1). The program of peaceful nuclear explosions was carried out for the purpose of deep seismic sounding in the search for minerals, the intensification of oil and gas production, the creation of underground tanks, the shutdown of oil and gas wells. 
new and other purposes. Thus, within the framework of the study program geological structure the earth's crust in the period from 1971 to 1988. 39 underground nuclear explosions were carried out, which made it possible to confirm the existence of new gas and gas condensate fields in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Yakutia. For almost 20 years, two gas condensate storage facilities at the Orenburgskoye field, created by an underground nuclear explosion, have been in operation. In total, taking into account nuclear explosives for peaceful purposes, 715 nuclear weapons were conducted in the USSR (215 of them in the atmosphere and under water, 4 in space occurred in 1949-1962. A complete list of them is given in ). In these experiments, 969 nuclear devices were detonated. The total power of the explosions was 285 Mt. including in explosions in the atmosphere and hydrosphere 247 Mt. 6 nuclear weapons had a capacity of more than 10 Mt. they were all airborne and were carried out in 1961–1962. on New Earth. 27 nuclear weapons had a capacity ranging from 1.5 to 10 Mt. Of these, 22 were held in 1955–1962, and five in 1970–1974. 55 nuclear explosions had a power in the range of 150–1500 kt. in the US in 2001. about 1056 nuclear explosions were carried out (including about 750 underground) with the detonation of 1151 nuclear devices with a total capacity of 193 Mt. including in ground explosions 155 Mt., and in underground - 38. France conducted 210 explosions, England - 45, China - 47, India - 3 and Pakistan - 2. According to scientists, as a result of all tests, plutonium alone was released into the atmosphere from 5 up to 10t.
Barakhtin V. N. Semipalatinsk nuclear test site: how to extinguish the echo of explosions?// Bulletin on atomic energy. - 2006. - No. 1. - S. 62-64.
SEMIPALATINSKY NUCLEAR POLYGON: HOW TO EXTINGUISH THE ECHO OF EXPLOSIONS?
Vianor BARAKHTIN
The official history of eliminating the consequences of the impact of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site on the health of the population of the Altai Territory began in 1992 after Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited the region. On June 24, 1992, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 428 “On measures to improve the health of the population and social economic development settlements of the Altai Territory located in the zone of influence of nuclear tests. A huge role in the fact that this story still began, was played by medical scientists.
Then Professor Yakov Shoikhet, who held the position of vice-rector for scientific work of the Altai State Medical Institute, made a report to the president and leaders of the region. He outlined the data obtained by scientists and doctors on the impact of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site on the health status of the population of the Altai Territory. The report of the scientist was so convincing that the President of Russia immediately instructed the government to immediately begin to implement a set of measures in order to eliminate the negative impact of nuclear tests. According to the government decree, medical and social rehabilitation of the population exposed to radiation began, scientific research continued in the affected areas, on a larger scale and deeper.
Altai medical scientists, together with scientists from the Institute of Biophysics of the Ministry of Health of Russia and the Central Institute of Physics and Technology of the Ministry of Defense (CFTI), not only estimated the radiation dose for population groups depending on the place of residence, but also revealed dose-dependent effects in exposed people and their descendants. The researchers are convinced that the Semipalatinsk program should cover at least two generations of the descendants of the irradiated. Today, the incidence in the Altai Territory is growing, but the mortality rate is below the average for Siberia. Yakov Shoikhet explains this by the high detection of pathology in the early stages, which was the result of equipping regional healthcare institutions with diagnostic equipment.
An equally important result of the implementation of the program "Semipalatinsk test site - Altai" was the development of a method for restoring radiation doses, created at the CFTI. The method has been certified and approved by the Ministry of Health and can be used in other regions of Siberia affected by nuclear weapons tests. This is not only Kazakhstan and the Altai Territory, but also Tyva, Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Chita and Tomsk regions.
Despite the implementation in the 1990s. of the state scientific program "Semipalatinsk test site - Altai", today the issue of the radiation consequences of the test site for the population of other regions of Siberia remains unresolved. Now the work on identifying the main dose-forming traces and their consequences for the population is limited only to the territory of Altai. These traces are artificially interrupted at the borders of neighboring regions. In the process of research, the effect of “remote fallouts” from radiation clouds formed after nuclear explosions was discovered, but remains unexplored. Russian legislation is based on the negative consequences of only two explosions - August 29, 1949 and August 7, 1962, traces of which have been studied only within the administrative boundaries of the Altai Territory. By the way, it was only during the implementation of the Altai program in 1993 that the stamp “Top secret, of special importance” was removed from the materials on these explosions. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the State Duma's appeal to the President of Russia was adopted (published in " Russian newspaper"April 10, 1997), in which the deputies ask to cancel the order of the Government of the Russian Federation, containing a list of settlements in the Altai Territory affected by nuclear explosions. IN
the text of the appeal states: “This order is based on the results of calculating radiation doses from two explosions out of 143 (August 29, 1949 and August 7, 1962), which contradicts the law on social protection of the population affected by radiation exposure and limits further work but the identification of victims territories (emphasis added). The appeal did not cause any reaction from the government.
The author (together with his colleague R. A. Yagudin) worked at the Semipalatinsk test site from 1967 to 1989, acting as an official representative of the former USSR State Hydrometeorology Committee - a member of the State Commission for the preparation and conduct of underground nuclear explosions.
The involvement of Novosibirsk meteorologists, who know the peculiarities of the local circulation of air masses, in this responsible work was due to the need to fulfill the requirements of the Treaty on the Ban on Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, signed in 1963 in Moscow. One of the requirements of the agreement is to prevent the release of explosion products by atmospheric transfer outside the USSR for 3-5 days (if an accident occurred with the release of radioactivity into the atmosphere during underground explosions). There were no such cases, with the exception of the accident on January 14, 1965.
Monitoring of the radiation situation was carried out at the network of stations of the State Committee for Hydrometeorology at 470 points of the former USSR. In a number of points located around the test site, daily aerial radiation reconnaissance was carried out by Roshydromet units using the Li-2 aircraft. In addition, the Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service carried out systematic radiation monitoring of the quality of water and food. A large amount of information was collected by geological parties involved in the exploration of uranium ores. All this information remained secret until 1989, which left its mark on the problem of studying the consequences of the landfill's activities on the surrounding territories and population.
The leaders of a number of Siberian regions, including the Novosibirsk region, believed that the Altai program would simultaneously solve their problems. But that did not happen. No one knows exactly what dose load fell on the Siberians, whose territory also received precipitation and radionuclides from the Semipalatinsk and Novaya Zemlya test sites.
To solve this problem, on September 20, 1994, the Novosibirsk Regional Scientific Program was adopted, which provides for the study of the consequences of radioactive contamination of the region's territory from nuclear tests. But since the program was funded for only three months, it was only found out which explosions had the most negative impact. A certain hope was sown by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 534, adopted on May 31, 1995. According to paragraph 19 of this document, a number of federal departments (the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Roshydromet, the Ministry of Defense and the administration of the Novosibirsk Region) were instructed to "ensure the conduct of on the territory of the Novosibirsk region of scientific research related to the establishment of the degree of influence of nuclear
tests on the medical and demographic situation in the region, based on the results of which to develop a set of measures to improve the health of the population and the socio-economic development of settlements in the zone exposed to radiation. For some reason, the regional leadership decided to transfer the scientific management of the problem to the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences and the Rosatomnadzor service, although this was not provided for in the government decree. In turn, three academicians (V. Shumny, V. Trufakin and V. Lyakhovich) and the heads of the regional administration, replacing one another, could not get federal funding for the work.
The exposure doses of the population of the region, as the main evidential effect of radiation exposure, have not been calculated. As a result, its own decision, adopted on the basis of the results of the implementation of the regional scientific program: to transfer to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia the data obtained by the SibNIGMI for the calculation of radiation doses from an emergency low-altitude explosion of high power, supplementing them with archival materials from other departments.
The reason for this situation was not only the passivity of local leaders, but also the lack of a coordinating role of the central departments, among which the leading role was to belong to the Russian Emergencies Ministry. In the early 1990s in this department, the corresponding structure was represented by territorial administration for rehabilitation, but soon it was liquidated. The atmosphere of special secrecy associated with the ongoing nuclear weapons tests has led to the fact that even today many local leaders have no idea where and what information is available, how the problem of rehabilitation should be solved, and whether there is such a problem at all.
There is even an opinion that Roshydromet hides this information. And the authors of the book “Ecocide in Russia” M. Feshbakh and A. Frendlin (M., 1992) accuse the Russian Hydrometeorological Service of deliberately “hiding and hiding from the population the true situation on Novaya Zemlya, the Semipalatinsk test site, etc. ". Let's try to figure it out: as for the first years of nuclear testing, this issue was decided by L.P. Beria, who oversaw the entire nuclear program, and the answer to the current situation must be sought, obviously, from those who conducted in the early 1990s. political and economic transformations in the country. So, in the late 1980s. on the orders of Roshydromet on the ground, all information about the past radiation situation was destroyed even before the classification was removed from it. Now all of it is open, located in various central archives and has a commercial value: pay money and get what you need.
The concentration of radioactive fallout and the exposure dose rate, recorded by the Hydrometeorological Service since 1954, are important, but not the only types of information necessary for calculating radiation doses. Operational receipt of information on the doses of exposure of the population is not included in the functional duties of any of the state structures. Such information should be the result of special scientific research, which should be carried out in accordance with Government Decree No. 534 in the same way as it was done for the territory of the Altai Territory.
Thus, analyzing the radiation consequences of explosion No. 100 (September 17, 1961), we found that the next day in Novosibirsk a record density of radioactive fallout from the atmosphere was recorded for the entire monitoring period. It exceeded similar indicators in Barnaul associated with the explosion on August 7, 1962, which was officially recognized as emergency. But it turned out that data on the power of this explosion and the amount of radionuclides released into the atmosphere have not yet been published. Without this information, it is impossible to reliably estimate the exposure doses to the population. However, since 1996, the replication of the results of a preliminary assessment of doses and the conclusion that there was no radioactive contamination of the area in the territory of the Novosibirsk Region from this explosion has continued.
Obviously, being in such conditions of limited information, neither Novosibirsk region, nor other regions will be able to obtain objective data on radioactive contamination and radiation doses. At the same time, as early as January 24, 1997, by decision of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergencies of the Ministry of Defense and the FSB of Russia, it was proposed to remove the secrecy stamp from the materials necessary for a reliable assessment of radiation doses. But the cart, as they say, is still there.
The critical mass of protests against the suppression of facts and subjective assessments of the past radiation situation in Siberia is growing, and this cannot be continued to be ignored. For Russia, which has been under the conditions of a totalitarian regime, closedness and isolation for many decades, informational openness, including environmental openness, is extremely important. The absence of such information deprives the authorities and society of the possibility of assessing and monitoring the state of affairs in defense and security, including environmental security.
What conclusions and proposals follow from the above?
1. The need to generalize and objectively analyze all the accumulated materials on the radiation effects of nuclear tests on the territory and population remains unfulfilled. The government decision obliging the Novosibirsk Region to do this has not been implemented (Resolution No. 534, paragraph 19 of May 31, 1995). The financial means necessary for this have not been allocated.
2. In solving this problem, there is no coordination of the activities of the leading research institutions. The territorial administration for rehabilitation created for this purpose in the system of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the 1990s. ceased its activities.
3. Existing estimates of the past radiation situation are based on incomplete information. They do not contain all data on extreme cases (emergency situations). In particular, the explosion on September 17, 1961 was not included in the "accident statistics", as indicated by the ground monitoring materials of Roshydromet. Aircraft materials have not been published or used anywhere.
radiation exploration of Roshydromet, carried out in 1950-1960, information from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service, geological exploration data.
4. An assessment has not been carried out and a map of the accumulated effective doses of exposure to the population of Siberia, except for the territory of the Altai Territory, has not been created. The contribution to the total dose from local fallout from the Novaya Zemlya test site was not taken into account.
5. Order of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin No. Pr-2085 dated October 24, 2000 (the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health of Russia and other departments) regarding the establishment of the status of persons exposed to radioactive effects as a result of nuclear tests can be fulfilled only after a complete analysis of all materials and removal of the classification from the information of the Ministry of Defense.
6. Data from radiation studies and their professional interpretation should be available for the entire region. It seems that this is the only way to overcome the fear of radiation and objectively assess the situation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Semipalatinsk test site: ensuring general and radiation safety / Coll. ed. under the hand prof. V. A. Logacheva. M.: Izdat, 1997. 319 p.
2. Barakhtin V. N., Dus V. I. Semipalatinsk test site through the eyes of independent experts. St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 2002. 110 p.
3. Logachev V. A., Mikhalikhina L. A., Filonov N. P. Influence of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site on the health status of the population of the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk regions // Bulletin of the Center of Societies. inf. on atomic energy. 1996. Special issue.
4. Bulatov V. I. 200 nuclear test sites of the USSR. Geography of radiation catastrophes and pollution. Novosibirsk: CERIS, 1993. 88 p.
5. Plutonium in Russia. Ecology, economics, politics. Independent analysis / Under the supervision of. corresponding member RAS, prof. A. V. Yablokova. Moscow: CEPR, SeS, 1994. 144 p.
6. Klezental G.A., Kalyakin V.I., Serezhenkov V.A. Issue. 1. M.: International Chernobyl security background, 1995. S. 123-127.
7. Bulatov V.I. Radioactive Russia. Novosibirsk: CERIS, 1996. 272 p.
8. Apsalikhov K. N., Gusev B. I., Dus V. I., Leonhard R. B. Semipalatinsk atomic lake. Alma-Ata: Gylym, 1996. 301 p.
9. Tleubergenov S. T. Polygons of Kazakhstan. Alma-Ata, 1997. 746 p.
10. Selegey VV Radioactive contamination of the city of Novosibirsk - past and present. Novosibirsk: Ecology, 1997. 148 p.
11. Voronin G. V. Nuclear test site - the triumph and tragedy of the people. Novosibirsk, 1998. 67 p.
12. Yakubovskaya E. L., Nagibin V. I., Suslin V. P. Semipalatinsk nuclear test site - 50 years. Novosibirsk, 1998. 141 p.
13. Bulatov V. I. Russia: ecology and army. Geoecological problems of the military-industrial complex and military defense activities. Novosibirsk: CERIS, 1999. 168 p.
14. Yakubovskaya E. L., Nagibin V. I., Suslin V. P. Semipalatinsk nuclear test site: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Novosibirsk, 2000. 128 p.
15. Yakubovskaya E. L., Nagibin V. I., Suslin V. P. Semipalatinsk nuclear test site - an independent analysis of the problem. Novosibirsk, 2003. 144 p.
Barakhtin Vianor Nikolayevich Senior Researcher of the Siberian Regional Research Hydrometeorological Institute of Roshydromet, Candidate of Geographical Sciences
Check if there is a nuclear power plant, a plant or an atomic research institute, a storage facility for radioactive waste or nuclear missiles near you.
Nuclear power plants
There are currently 10 nuclear power plants operating in Russia and two more under construction (the Baltic NPP in the Kaliningrad region and the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov in Chukotka). You can read more about them on the official website of Rosenergoatom.
At the same time, nuclear power plants in the former USSR cannot be considered numerous. As of 2017, there are 191 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide, including 60 in the US, 58 in the European Union and Switzerland, and 21 in China and India. In close proximity to the Russian Far East 16 Japanese and 6 South Korean nuclear power plants operate. The entire list of existing, under construction and closed nuclear power plants, indicating their exact location and specifications can be found on Wikipedia.
Factories and scientific research institutes of nuclear subjects
Radiation-hazardous objects (RHO), in addition to nuclear power plants, are enterprises and scientific organizations of the nuclear industry and ship repair plants specializing in the nuclear fleet.
Official information on ROO in the regions of Russia is available on the website of Roshydromet, as well as in the yearbook "Radiation Situation in Russia and Neighboring States" on the website of NPO Typhoon.
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste of low and intermediate level is generated in industry, as well as in scientific and medical organizations throughout the country.
In Russia, Rosatom's subsidiaries RosRAO and Radon (in the Central Region) are engaged in their collection, transportation, processing and storage.
In addition, RosRAO is engaged in the disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned nuclear submarines and Navy ships, as well as the environmental rehabilitation of contaminated areas and radiation hazardous facilities (such as the former uranium processing plant in Kirovo-Chepetsk).
Information about their work in each region can be found in environmental reports published on the websites of Rosatom, branches of RosRAO, and the Radon enterprise.
Military nuclear facilities
Among military nuclear facilities, nuclear submarines seem to be the most environmentally hazardous.
Nuclear submarines (NPSs) are so called because they run on nuclear energy, which powers the boat's engines. Some of the nuclear submarines are also carriers of missiles with nuclear warheads. However, major accidents on nuclear submarines known from open sources were associated with the operation of reactors or with other causes (collision, fire, etc.), and not with nuclear warheads.
Nuclear power plants are also available on some surface ships of the Navy, such as the nuclear cruiser Peter the Great. They also pose a certain environmental risk.
Information on the locations of nuclear submarines and nuclear ships of the Navy is shown on the map according to open sources.
The second type of military nuclear facilities are units of the Strategic Missile Forces armed with ballistic missiles. nuclear missiles. Cases of radiation accidents associated with nuclear ammunition in open sources not detected. The current location of the Strategic Missile Forces formations is shown on the map according to the information of the Ministry of Defense.
The map does not contain storage facilities for nuclear weapons (rocket warheads and air bombs), which can also pose an environmental threat.
nuclear explosions
In 1949-1990, an extensive program of 715 nuclear explosions for military and industrial purposes was implemented in the USSR.
Atmospheric nuclear testing
From 1949 to 1962 The USSR carried out 214 tests in the atmosphere, including 32 on the ground (with the highest pollution environment), 177 air, 1 high-altitude (at an altitude of more than 7 km) and 4 space.
In 1963, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement banning nuclear tests in air, water and space.
Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan)- the test site of the first Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949 and the first Soviet prototype of a 1.6 Mt thermonuclear bomb in 1957 (it was also the largest test in the history of the test site). In total, 116 atmospheric tests were carried out here, including 30 ground and 86 air tests.
Polygon on Novaya Zemlya- the site of an unprecedented series of super-powerful explosions in 1958 and 1961-1962. A total of 85 charges were tested, including the most powerful in world history - the "Tsar bomb" with a capacity of 50 Mt (1961). For comparison, the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima did not exceed 20 kt. In addition, in the Chernaya Bay of the Novaya Zemlya test site, the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion on naval facilities were studied. For this, in 1955-1962. 1 ground, 2 surface and 3 underwater tests were carried out.
Missile test polygon "Kapustin Yar" in the Astrakhan region - an operating landfill Russian army. In 1957-1962 5 air, 1 high-altitude and 4 space rocket tests were carried out here. The maximum power of air explosions was 40 kt, high-altitude and space - 300 kt. From here, in 1956, a rocket with a nuclear charge of 0.3 kt was launched, which fell and exploded in the Karakum near the city of Aralsk.
On Totsk training ground in 1954, military exercises were held, during which an atomic bomb with a power of 40 kt was dropped. After the explosion, the military units had to "take" the objects that had been bombed.
Apart from the USSR, only China carried out nuclear tests in the atmosphere in Eurasia. For this, the Lobnor test site was used in the north-west of the country, approximately at the longitude of Novosibirsk. In total, in 1964-1980. China has carried out 22 ground and air tests, including thermonuclear explosions with a yield of up to 4 Mt.
Underground nuclear explosions
The USSR carried out underground nuclear explosions from 1961 to 1990. Initially, they were aimed at the development of nuclear weapons in connection with the ban on testing in the atmosphere. Since 1967, the creation of nuclear explosive technologies for industrial purposes also began.
In total, out of 496 underground explosions, 340 were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site and 39 at Novaya Zemlya. Tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1964-1975. were distinguished by high power, including a record (about 4 Mt) underground explosion in 1973. After 1976, the power did not exceed 150 kt. The last nuclear explosion at the Semipalatinsk test site was carried out in 1989, and at Novaya Zemlya in 1990.
Polygon "Azgir" in Kazakhstan (near the Russian city of Orenburg) was used to develop industrial technologies. With the help of nuclear explosions, cavities were created here in the layers of rock salt, and during repeated explosions, radioactive isotopes were produced in them. A total of 17 explosions with a power of up to 100 kt were carried out.
Outside the landfills in 1965-1988 100 underground nuclear explosions were performed for industrial purposes, including 80 in Russia, 15 in Kazakhstan, 2 each in Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and 1 in Turkmenistan. Their purpose was deep seismic sounding to search for minerals, the creation of underground cavities for storing natural gas and industrial waste, the intensification of oil and gas production, the movement of large areas of soil for the construction of canals and dams, and the extinguishing of gas fountains.
Other countries. China carried out 23 underground nuclear explosions at the Lop Nor test site in 1969-1996, India - 6 explosions in 1974 and 1998, Pakistan - 6 explosions in 1998, North Korea - 5 explosions in 2006-2016.
The US, UK, and France have conducted all of their testing outside of Eurasia.
Literature
Many data on nuclear explosions in the USSR are open.
Official information about the power, purpose and geography of each explosion was published in 2000 in the book of the team of authors of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia "Nuclear Tests of the USSR". It also contains the history and description of the Semipalatinsk and Novaya Zemlya test sites, the first tests of nuclear and thermonuclear bombs, the Tsar Bomba test, a nuclear explosion at the Totsk test site, and other data.
A detailed description of the test site on Novaya Zemlya and the test program on it can be found in the article "Review of Soviet nuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1955-1990", and their environmental consequences - in the book "
List of atomic objects compiled in 1998 by the Itogi magazine, on the site Kulichki.com.
Estimated location of various objects on interactive maps
On November 9, 1968, the USSR conducted nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk polygon. This is the first and one of the largest nuclear test sites Soviet Union. We made a selection of several more well-known places where tests were carried out.
1. Kapustin Yar. It was created on May 13, 1946 for scientific research and testing. rocket technology. This polygon is associated historical event for the USSR. On October 18, 1947, a ballistic missile was launched on it for the first time. This day went down in history as an unforgettable milestone in the development of Soviet scientific and technical thought and became the starting point for Russian rocket science.
In July 1951, for the first time in the world, a rocket was launched from Kapustin Yar with animals on board - the dogs Dezik and Gypsy. In total, 48 dogs were launched into space from the test site. And the event of 1969 marked the beginning of space exploration in the interests of the world community. On October 14, the first artificial satellite lands of the Interkosmos series.
It should be noted that Kapustin Yar is still one of the largest research and testing centers in our time.
2. New Earth. A test site was created on the archipelago, which included three sites: Chernaya Guba, Matochkin Shar, D-II SIPNZ on the Dry Nose Peninsula. Black Bay is known for the fact that on September 21, 1955, the first underwater nuclear explosion in the USSR was carried out there at a depth of 12 meters. But more famous than the rest is the explosion of the Tsar Bomba, also known as the Kuzkina Mother. This is a 50 megaton bomb. The consequences were frightening. A perceptible seismic wave resulting from the explosion circled three times Earth. Witnesses felt the impact and were able to describe the explosion at a distance of a thousand kilometers from its center. The nuclear mushroom of the explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers, the diameter of its two-tiered “hat” reached (near the upper tier) 95 kilometers. The fireball of the explosion reached a radius of approximately 4.6 kilometers.
In total, from 1955 to 1990, 135 nuclear explosions were carried out at the test site. In 1998, the landfill was transferred to the Ministry of Defense.
3. Semipalatinsk test site. This is one of the most famous and largest training grounds in the USSR. It brought a lot of problems to the residents living next to it, and also polluted large areas of Kazakhstan and Russia. For 40 years, 456 nuclear explosions have been carried out. Moreover, people continued to live in the vicinity of the landfill at that time. The population was exposed to radiation, which eventually led to illness, premature death, genetic diseases among the local population. Data about this, collected by Soviet scientists during the tests, is still classified.
Testing ceased in 1991. However, people still inhabit the landfill. And this is the only such place in the world. The territory of the landfill is not protected despite the fact that it continues to store thousands of open and hidden threats to people.
4. Totsk polygon. It is located in Orenburg region. On September 14, 1954, large-scale military exercises were held on it with the use of an atomic bomb. They were attended by 45 thousand military personnel. These teachings were of great importance. The marshals of the USSR gathered to look at the bomb drop, the chairman of the Council of Ministers Georgy Malenkov and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev were present. Among the guests were Yugoslav and Chinese soldiers.
The bomb was dropped from a height of 8 kilometers. The power of the explosion was twice that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. During the exercise, something happened that no one foresaw. The wind changed and carried the radioactive cloud not to the deserted steppe, as expected, but straight to Orenburg and further, towards Krasnoyarsk. The results of the exercises were labeled "top secret". Therefore, the participants in the exercises dying from illnesses could not even tell the doctors about the causes of the illness.
