Tired mountain syndrome

Last updated
Rainier Mesa at the Nevada Test Site NTS - Aerial view of Rainier Mesa.jpg
Rainier Mesa at the Nevada Test Site

Tired mountain syndrome is a condition in which underground nuclear testing fractures and weakens rock, increasing permeability and the risk of release of radionuclides and radioactive contamination of the environment. [1] Locations said to have undergone the syndrome include the French Polynesian island of Moruroa, [2] Rainier Mesa in the United States, [3] the Dnepr 1 nuclear test site on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, [1] possibly Mount Lazarev in the Novaya Zemlya Test Site in Russia, [lower-alpha 1] and Mount Mantap in North Korea. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

See also

Footnotes

  1. The Matochkin Shar site 73°23′N54°24′E / 73.39°N 54.40°E is called out in a 1993 USGS report; [4] the report does not mention tired mountain syndrome by name, but notes 72 percent of the 36 tests at Matochkin Shar leaked radionuclides, and in four tests seepage along fractures or faults in the rock is "specifically described" in Russian geological reports.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsar Bomba</span> Most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated

The Tsar Bomba, also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. The Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov oversaw the project at Arzamas-16, while the main work of design was by Sakharov, Viktor Adamsky, Yuri Babayev, Yuri Smirnov, and Yuri Trutnev. The project was ordered by Nikita Khrushchev in July 1961 as part of the Soviet resumption of nuclear testing after the Test Ban Moratorium, with the detonation timed to coincide with the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear weapons testing</span> Controlled detonation of nuclear weapons for scientific or political purposes

Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength. Many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status through a nuclear test.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severny Island</span> Uninhabited island in Russian Arctic

Severny Island is a Russian Arctic island. It is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. It was historically called Lütke Land after Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke, who explored it. It lies approximately 400 km north of the Russian mainland. It has an area of 48,904 square kilometres (18,882 sq mi), making it the 30th-largest island in the world and the 3rd-largest uninhabited island in the world. It is part of Russian Arctic National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuzhny Island</span> Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago

Yuzhny is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of 33,275 square kilometres (12,800 sq mi), which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the largest islands in the world. It is separated from Severny Island by the narrow Matochkin Strait, which is covered with ice most of the year. West of Yuzhny Island lies the Barents Sea, and to the east the Kara Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matochkin Strait</span> Strait between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya

Matochkin Strait or Matochkin Shar is a 323 km2 (125 sq mi) strait, structurally a fjord, between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amchitka</span> Island in the United States of America

Amchitka is a volcanic, tectonically unstable and uninhabited island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The island, with a land area of roughly 116 square miles (300 km2), is about 42 miles (68 km) long and 1 to 4 miles wide. The area has a maritime climate, with many storms, and mostly overcast skies.

Peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) are nuclear explosions conducted for non-military purposes. Proposed uses include excavation for the building of canals and harbours, electrical generation, the use of nuclear explosions to drive spacecraft, and as a form of wide-area fracking. PNEs were an area of some research from the late 1950s into the 1980s, primarily in the United States and Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground nuclear weapons testing</span> Test detonation of nuclear weapons underground

Underground nuclear testing is the test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient depth, the nuclear explosion may be contained, with no release of radioactive materials to the atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novaya Zemlya</span> Archipelago in northern Russia

Novaya Zemlya is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the easternmost point of Europe. To Novaya Zemlya's west lies the Barents Sea and to the east is the Kara Sea.

Sukhoy Nos is a cape on Severny Island, the northern island of the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, projecting westward into the Barents Sea. The site lies near the southwestern corner of the island, 15 km (9.3 mi) from Mityushikha Bay, north of Matochkin Strait, which separates Severny from Yuzhny Island, the southern island of the archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 North Korean nuclear test</span> Test detonation on 12 February 2013

On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. A tremor that exhibited a nuclear bomb signature with an initial magnitude 4.9 was detected by the China Earthquake Networks Center, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the United States Geological Survey. In response, Japan summoned an emergency United Nations meeting for 12 February and South Korea raised its military alert status. It is not known whether the explosion was nuclear or a conventional explosion designed to mimic a nuclear blast; as of two days after the blast, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean investigators had failed to detect any radiation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Soviet nuclear tests</span>

The Soviet Union's 1964 nuclear test series was a group of 9 nuclear tests conducted in 1964. These tests followed the 1962 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1965 Soviet nuclear tests series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1962 Soviet nuclear tests</span> Weapons testing

The Soviet Union's 1962 nuclear test series was a group of 78 nuclear tests conducted in 1962. These tests followed the Soviet Project K nuclear tests series and preceded the 1964 Soviet nuclear tests series.

The Soviet Union's 1961 nuclear test series was a group of 57 nuclear tests conducted in 1961. These tests followed the 1958 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the Soviet Project K nuclear tests series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1958 Soviet nuclear tests</span>

The Soviet Union's 1958 nuclear test series was a group of 36 nuclear tests conducted in 1958. These tests followed the 1957 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1961 Soviet nuclear tests series.

The Soviet Union's 1957 nuclear test series was a group of 16 nuclear tests conducted in 1957. These tests followed the 1956 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1958 Soviet nuclear tests series.

The Soviet Union's 1955 nuclear test series was a group of 7 nuclear tests conducted in 1955. These tests followed the 1954 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1956 Soviet nuclear tests series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Soviet nuclear tests</span>

The Soviet Union's 1972 nuclear test series was a group of 24 nuclear tests conducted in 1972. These tests followed the 1971 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1973 Soviet nuclear tests series.

Mount Lazarev is a massif on the northern portion of Yuzhny Island, Novaya Zemlya, in Russia. It was used for many Soviet nuclear tests, starting with the first underground nuclear test on Novaya Zemlya, 18 September 1964, which may have resulted in tired mountain syndrome.

References

  1. 1 2 Adushkin, Vitaly V.; Leith, William (September 2001), "'Tired Mountain' Syndrome" (PDF), Containment of Soviet Underground Nuclear Explosions, United States Geological Survey, pp. 35–37, Open File Report 01-312
  2. van Ginneken, Jaap (2003). Collective Behavior and Public Opinion: Rapid Shifts in Opinion and Communication. European Institute for the Media Series. Taylor & Francis. p. 126. ISBN   978-1-135-62903-8.
  3. The Containment of Underground Nuclear Explosions (PDF), U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, October 1989, p. 51, LCCN   89-600707, OTA-ISC-414 (full document)
  4. Matzko, John R. (1993), Physical Environment of the Underground Nuclear Test Site on Novaya Zemlya, Russia (PDF), United States Geological Survey, pp. 4, 8–10, 20, Open File Report 93-501
  5. Eric Limer (October 20, 2017), "Is North Korea's Nuke-Testing Mountain at Risk of Collapse? Satellite imagery suggests the underground blasts may be taking their toll", Popular Mechanics
  6. N. Korea nuclear test site may have 'Tired Mountain Syndrome', Agence France-Presse, October 19, 2017 via Straits Times
  7. Anna Fifield (October 20, 2017), "After six tests, the mountain hosting North Korea's nuclear blasts may be exhausted", The Washington Post