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1971 Soviet nuclear tests 
Summary
The Soviet Union's 1971 nuclear test series[1] was a group of 23 nuclear tests conducted in 1971. These tests[note 1] followed the 1970 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1972 Soviet nuclear tests series.
| 1971 | |
|---|---|
 Nuclear blast animation | |
| Information | |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Test site | Arkhangelsk, Russia; Atyrau, Kazakhstan; Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Ivanovo, Russia; Komi, Russia; NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia; Orenburg, Russia; Perm, Russia; Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan |
| Period | 1971 |
| Number of tests | 23 |
| Test type | cratering, underground shaft, tunnel |
| Max. yield | 2.4 megatonnes of TNT (10 PJ) |
| Test series chronology | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 332 | 29 January 1971 05:03:00.0 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 114 49°48′12″N 78°09′38″E / 49.80334°N 78.16045°E | 657 m (2,156 ft) + | tunnel, weapon effect |
1.8 kt | [1][3][4][5][6] | |||
| 333 | 22 March 1971 04:33:00.3 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 510p 49°47′55″N 78°06′32″E / 49.7985°N 78.109°E | 656 m (2,152 ft) + | tunnel, peaceful research |
67 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 334 | 22 March 1971 04:33:?? | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 807 49°46′37″N 78°05′36″E / 49.77704°N 78.09342°E | 601 m (1,972 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][4][5][6][8] | |||
| 335 Taiga - 1 | 23 March 1971 06:59:58.4 | SVET (5 hrs) |
Perm, Russia: 1B 61°18′27″N 56°35′57″E / 61.30759°N 56.59926°E | – 128 m (420 ft) | cratering, earth moving |
15 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | Excavation for canal. | ||
| 335 Taiga - 2 | 23 March 1971 06:59:58 | SVET (5 hrs) |
Perm, Russia: 2B 61°18′22″N 56°35′56″E / 61.30621°N 56.59881°E | – 128 m (420 ft) | cratering, industrial |
15 kt | [1][4][5][6][8] | Excavation for canal. | ||
| 335 Taiga - 3 | 23 March 1971 06:59:58 | SVET (5 hrs) |
Perm, Russia: 3B 61°18′17″N 56°35′54″E / 61.30472°N 56.59843°E | – 128 m (420 ft) | cratering, industrial |
15 kt | [1][4][5][6][8] | Excavation for canal. | ||
| 336 | 9 April 1971 02:33:00.0 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 148/1 49°49′53″N 78°02′05″E / 49.83145°N 78.03479°E | 632 m (2,073 ft) + | tunnel, industrial |
230 t | [1][4][5][6][8][9] | Tested a special device for keeping radioactivity from invading ore bodies when using a bomb to fracture them. | ||
| 337 | 25 April 1971 03:32:59.9 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 706 49°46′07″N 78°02′02″E / 49.7685°N 78.0339°E | 689 m (2,260 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
90 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 338 | 25 May 1971 04:03:00.4 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 119 49°48′06″N 78°08′20″E / 49.8016°N 78.1388°E | 761 m (2,497 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
9 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 339 | 6 June 1971 04:02:59.7 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 110 49°58′34″N 77°39′35″E / 49.97599°N 77.65964°E | 460 m (1,510 ft) + | underground shaft, weapons development |
16 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 340 | 19 June 1971 04:04:00.1 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 129 49°58′10″N 77°38′28″E / 49.96946°N 77.64124°E | 460 m (1,510 ft) + | underground shaft, weapons development |
35 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 341 | 30 June 1971 03:56:59.8 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1056 49°56′48″N 78°58′47″E / 49.94657°N 78.9797°E | 330 m (1,080 ft) + | underground shaft, weapons development |
5 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 342 Globus 4 | 2 July 1971 17:00:01.1 | MSK (3 hrs) |
Komi, Russia: GB-4 67°17′05″N 63°27′48″E / 67.28486°N 63.46342°E | – 540 m (1,770 ft) | underground shaft, seismic sounding |
2.3 kt | [1][5][6][7][8] | Seismic probing program. | ||
| 343 Globus 3 | 10 July 1971 17:00:01.4 | MSK (3 hrs) |
Komi, Russia: GB-3 64°10′00″N 55°15′38″E / 64.16663°N 55.26057°E | – 470 m (1,540 ft) | underground shaft, seismic sounding |
2.3 kt | [1][5][6][7][8] | Seismic probing program. | ||
| 344 Globus 1 | 19 September 1971 11:00:01.1 | MSK (3 hrs) |
Ivanovo, Russia: GB-1 57°30′29″N 42°38′35″E / 57.508°N 42.643°E | – 610 m (2,000 ft) | underground shaft, seismic sounding |
2.3 kt | Venting detected | [1][5][6][7][8] | Seismic probing program. | |
| 345 - 1 | 27 September 1971 05:59:55.75 | MSK (3 hrs) |
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-8 73°23′35″N 54°55′12″E / 73.393°N 54.92°E | 100 m (330 ft) – 1,200 m (3,900 ft) | tunnel, weapons development |
2.5 Mt | Venting detected off site, 15 Ci (560 GBq) | [1][3][5][6][7] | ||
| 345 - 2 | 27 September 1971 05:59:55.8 | MSK (3 hrs) |
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-8 73°23′35″N 54°55′12″E / 73.393°N 54.92°E | 100 m (330 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][5][6][8][10] | |||
| 345 - 3 | 27 September 1971 05:59:55.8 | MSK (3 hrs) |
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-8 73°23′35″N 54°55′12″E / 73.393°N 54.92°E | 100 m (330 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][5][6][8][10] | |||
| 345 - 4 | 27 September 1971 05:59:55.8 | MSK (3 hrs) |
NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-8 73°23′35″N 54°55′12″E / 73.393°N 54.92°E | 100 m (330 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][5][6][8][10] | |||
| 346 Globus 2 | 4 October 1971 10:00:00.1 | MSK (3 hrs) |
Arkhangelsk, Russia: GB-2 61°21′29″N 48°05′31″E / 61.358°N 48.092°E | – 595 m (1,952 ft) | underground shaft, seismic sounding |
2.3 kt | [1][5][6][7][8] | Seismic probing program. | ||
| 347 | 9 October 1971 06:02:59.7 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 111 49°58′43″N 77°38′28″E / 49.97852°N 77.64117°E | 460 m (1,510 ft) + | underground shaft, weapons development |
12 kt | Venting detected | [1][4][5][6][7] | ||
| 348 | 21 October 1971 06:02:59.7 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 127 49°58′28″N 77°35′49″E / 49.9744°N 77.59698°E | 460 m (1,510 ft) + | underground shaft, weapons development |
23 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 349 Sapfir (Sapphire) | 22 October 1971 05:00:01.0 | SVET (5 hrs) |
Orenburg, Russia: E-2 51°36′N 54°27′E / 51.6°N 54.45°E | – 1,140 m (3,740 ft) | underground shaft, cavity excavation |
15 kt | [1][5][6][7][8] | Create reservoirs for gas storage. | ||
| 350 - 1 | 29 November 1971 06:02:59.9 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 105 49°44′36″N 78°04′43″E / 49.7434°N 78.0785°E | 766 m (2,513 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
28 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 350 - 2 | 29 November 1971 06:02:59.9 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 105 49°44′36″N 78°04′43″E / 49.7434°N 78.0785°E | 766 m (2,513 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][4][5][6][8] | |||
| 351 | 15 December 1971 07:53:59.8 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 157 49°49′35″N 77°59′50″E / 49.8264°N 77.9973°E | 691 m (2,267 ft) – 115 m (377 ft) | tunnel, weapon effect |
6 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 352 Galit A3 (Halite) | 22 December 1971 06:59:59.0 | SHET (5 hrs) |
Atyrau, Kazakhstan: A-III 47°52′19″N 48°13′19″E / 47.872°N 48.222°E | – 987 m (3,238 ft) | underground shaft, industrial |
64 kt | [1][5][6][7][8] | Create reservoirs for gas storage; reused the cavity for test #437. | ||
| 353 | 30 December 1971 06:21:00.2 | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 809 49°45′36″N 78°02′14″E / 49.76°N 78.0371°E | 714 m (2,343 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
50 kt | [1][4][5][6][7] | |||
| 354 | 30 December 1971 06:21:?? | ALMT (6 hrs) |
Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 609 49°45′26″N 78°02′32″E / 49.75729°N 78.04214°E | 715 m (2,346 ft) + | tunnel, weapons development |
unknown yield | [1][4][5][6][8] |
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
- ^ 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.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) (Technical report). SMDC Monitoring Research.
- ^ "Time Zone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Podvig, Pavel, ed. (2001). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262661812. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990. Sarov, Russia: RFNC-VNIIEF. 1996. The official Russian list of Soviet tests.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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.
- ^ Nordyke, M.D. The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions (PDF) (UCRL-ID-12441O Rev 2). Retrieved December 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c 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.