1970 Soviet nuclear tests

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1970
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Information
CountrySoviet Union
Test site Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Mangystau, Kazakhstan; NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia; Orenburg, Russia; Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
Period1970
Number of tests16
Test typeunderground shaft, tunnel
Max. yield2.2 megatonnes of TNT (9.2 PJ)
Test series chronology
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The Soviet Union's 1970 nuclear test series [1] was a group of 16 nuclear tests conducted in 1970. These tests [note 1] followed the 1969 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1971 Soviet nuclear tests series.

Soviet Union's 1970 series tests and detonations
Name [note 2] Date time (UT) Local time zone [note 3] [2] Location [note 4] Elevation + height [note 5] Delivery, [note 6]
Purpose [note 7] 		Device [note 8] Yield [note 9] Fallout [note 10] References Notes
316 - 129 January 1970 07:03:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 802 49°47′44″N78°07′26″E / 49.7956°N 78.1239°E / 49.7956; 78.1239 (316 - 1) 727 m (2,385 ft) + tunnel,
weapon effect 		42 kt [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
316 - 229 January 1970 07:03:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 802 49°47′44″N78°07′26″E / 49.7956°N 78.1239°E / 49.7956; 78.1239 (316 - 2) 727 m (2,385 ft) + tunnel,
weapon effect 		unknown yield [1] [3] [4] [6] [7] [8]
316 - 329 January 1970 07:03:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 802 49°47′44″N78°07′26″E / 49.7956°N 78.1239°E / 49.7956; 78.1239 (316 - 3) 727 m (2,385 ft) + tunnel,
weapon effect 		unknown yield [1] [3] [4] [6] [7] [8]
31718 February 1970ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Sh-2 49°44′02″N78°05′59″E / 49.73395°N 78.09982°E / 49.73395; 78.09982 (317) 700 m (2,300 ft) + tunnel,
safety experiment 		1000 kg [1] [4] [6] [7] [8]
31827 March 1970 05:02:59.6 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 610 49°44′52″N77°59′56″E / 49.7478°N 77.999°E / 49.7478; 77.999 (318) 698 m (2,290 ft) + tunnel,
peaceful research 		6.5 kt [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
31927 May 1970 04:03:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Sh-3 49°43′55″N78°05′51″E / 49.73183°N 78.0975°E / 49.73183; 78.0975 (319) 580 m (1,900 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		900 t [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]
320 Magistral (Highway)25 June 1970 04:59:55.5 SVET (5 hrs)
Orenburg, Russia: 1T-2S 52°12′04″N55°41′31″E / 52.201°N 55.692°E / 52.201; 55.692 (320 Magistral (Highway)) – 700 m (2,300 ft)underground shaft,
cavity excavation 		2.3 kt [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Create reservoirs for gas storage.
32128 June 1970 01:58:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 510 49°48′05″N78°06′24″E / 49.8015°N 78.1068°E / 49.8015; 78.1068 (321) 656 m (2,152 ft) – 332 m (1,089 ft)tunnel,
weapons development 		88 kt [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
322 - 128 June 1970 01:58:?? ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 705 49°46′36″N78°02′59″E / 49.77677°N 78.04981°E / 49.77677; 78.04981 (322 - 1) 650 m (2,130 ft) + tunnel,
peaceful research 		unknown yield [1] [4] [6] [7] [8]
322 - 228 June 1970 01:58:?? ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 705 49°46′36″N78°02′59″E / 49.77677°N 78.04981°E / 49.77677; 78.04981 (322 - 2) 650 m (2,130 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		unknown yield [1] [4] [6] [7] [8]
32321 July 1970 03:02:59.7 ALMT (6 hrs)
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 104 49°57′11″N77°40′21″E / 49.95295°N 77.67238°E / 49.95295; 77.67238 (323) 460 m (1,510 ft) + underground shaft,
weapons development 		23 kt [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]
32424 July 1970 03:57:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 120 49°48′35″N78°07′42″E / 49.8097°N 78.1284°E / 49.8097; 78.1284 (324) 732 m (2,402 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		20 kt [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
3266 September 1970 04:02:59.9 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 8 49°45′35″N78°00′19″E / 49.75975°N 78.00533°E / 49.75975; 78.00533 (326) 752 m (2,467 ft) + tunnel,
peaceful research 		34 kt [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]
3256 September 1970 04:03:?? ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 502 49°47′37″N78°00′19″E / 49.79349°N 78.00537°E / 49.79349; 78.00537 (325) 680 m (2,230 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		unknown yield [1] [4] [6] [7] [8]
327 - 114 October 1970 05:59:57.57 MSK (3 hrs)
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-6 73°18′14″N55°01′37″E / 73.304°N 55.027°E / 73.304; 55.027 (327 - 1) 100 m (330 ft) – 1,200 m (3,900 ft)tunnel,
weapons development 		2.2 MtVenting detected off site, 2 MCi (74 PBq) [1] [5] [6] [7] [10]
327 - 214 October 1970 05:59:57.6 MSK (3 hrs)
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-6 73°18′14″N55°01′37″E / 73.304°N 55.027°E / 73.304; 55.027 (327 - 2) 100 m (330 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		unknown yield [1] [6] [7] [8] [11]
327 - 314 October 1970 05:59:57.6 MSK (3 hrs)
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-6 73°18′14″N55°01′37″E / 73.304°N 55.027°E / 73.304; 55.027 (327 - 3) 100 m (330 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		unknown yield [1] [6] [7] [8] [11]
3284 November 1970 06:02:59.8 ALMT (6 hrs)
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 125 49°59′22″N77°45′43″E / 49.98947°N 77.76208°E / 49.98947; 77.76208 (328) 460 m (1,510 ft) + underground shaft,
peaceful research 		27 kt [1] [4] [5] [6] [7] Testing of a special explosive for valley cratering, used for the Tiaga event.
329 Say-Utes 6T12 December 1970 07:00:59.8 SHET (5 hrs)
Mangystau, Kazakhstan: 6T 43°51′04″N54°46′26″E / 43.851°N 54.774°E / 43.851; 54.774 (329 Say-Utes 6T) – 740 m (2,430 ft)underground shaft,
industrial 		80 kt [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Alluvial cratering, possibly testing for thermonuke test site.
33017 December 1970 07:01:00.0 ALMT (6 hrs)
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 193 49°44′44″N78°05′57″E / 49.7456°N 78.0992°E / 49.7456; 78.0992 (330) 624 m (2,047 ft) + tunnel,
weapons development 		26 kt [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]
331 Say-Utes 1T23 December 1970 07:00:59.8 SHET (5 hrs)
Mangystau, Kazakhstan: 1-T 43°53′37″N54°53′56″E / 43.89355°N 54.89875°E / 43.89355; 54.89875 (331 Say-Utes 1T) – 500 m (1,600 ft)underground shaft,
industrial 		75 kt [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] Alluvial cratering, possibly testing for thermonuke test site.
  1. ↑ A bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points and does not exceed 40 kilometers in length". Mikhailov, V. N. "Catalog of World Wide Nuclear Testing". Begell-Atom, LLC. Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  2. ↑ The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  3. ↑ To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
  4. ↑ Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  5. ↑ Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  6. ↑ Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  7. ↑ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  8. ↑ Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  9. ↑ Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  10. ↑ Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) (Technical report). SMDC Monitoring Research.
  2. ↑ "Time Zone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Thurber, Clifford; Trabant, Chad; Hartog, Renate. Assessing Event Location Capability with Ground Truth Events at the Degelen Mountain Test Site, Kazakhstan (PDF) (DSWA01-98-10008). Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Arms Control Technology Division, Nuclear Treaties Branch. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Khalturin, Vitaly I.; Rautian, Tatyana G.; Richards, Paul G. (2000). "Chemical explosions during 1961-1989 on the Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan" (PDF). Pure and Applied Geophysics. 158: 143–171. doi:10.1007/pl00001153. S2CID   128953780. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Cochran, Thomas B.; Arkin, William M.; Norris, Robert S.; Sands, Jeffrey I. Nuclear Weapons Databook Vol. IV: Soviet Nuclear Weapons. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Podvig, Pavel, ed. (2001). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN   9780262661812 . Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990. Sarov, Russia: RFNC-VNIIEF. 1996. The official Russian list of Soviet tests.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Nuclear explosions in the USSR: The North Test Site reference material, version 4 (PDF) (Technical report). IAEA Dept. of Nuclear Safety and Security. December 1, 2004. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Nordyke, M.D. The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions (PDF) (UCRL-ID-12441O Rev 2). Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  10. ↑ Kim, Won-Young; Richards, Paul G.; Andrushkin, Vitaly; Ovtchinnikov, Vladimir (April 1, 2001). Borovoye digital seismogram archive for underground nuclear tests during 1966-1996 (PDF) (Technical report). LDEO. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Andrushkin, Vitaly V.; Leith, William (September 1, 2001). The containment of Soviet underground nuclear explosions (PDF) (Open File Report 01-312). USGS. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
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