The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site is one of the darkest pages in the history of the confrontation between two superpowers - the USSR and the USA. It is believed that the creation of such a super-powerful and deadly weapon for the Soviet Union at that difficult time was extremely necessary. But the more nuclear scientists approached their discovery, the more urgent the question became of where to experience this latest development. And a solution to this problem was found.
History of creation
I must say that the nuclear test site was an integral part of the project to create an atomic bomb. Therefore, it was necessary to find a suitable location in order to try out new weapons. It was the steppes of Kazakhstan, which turned into the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Where this place is, few nowadays know. More precisely, this is the steppe on the right bank of the Irtysh, only 130 km from Semipalatinsk.
Subsequently, it became clear that the relief of this area was the best suited for conducting underground explosions in wells and adits. The only drawback was the fact that the Chinese Consulate was located in Semipalatinsk, but it was soon closed.
On August 21, 1947, a resolution was issued stating that the construction that had begun earlier by the Gulag was now transferred to the military department under the name "Training ground No. 2 of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (military unit 52605)." Lieutenant General P.M. Rozhanovich was appointed its chief, and M.A.Sadovsky, who later became an academician, was appointed supervisor.
Test
For the first time, nuclear weapons in the USSR were tested in August 1949. The strength of the detonated bomb then amounted to 22 kilotons. It should be noted that thoroughly prepared for it. This was necessary in order to record the maximum amount of information about the effectiveness and consequences of using this new weapon.
The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site occupied a huge area of 18 thousand 500 square meters. km An experimental site with a diameter of about 10 km was allocated from it and divided into sectors. An imitation of residential buildings and fortifications was built on this territory, as well as civil and military equipment. In addition, in these sectors there were more than one and a half thousand animals and measuring photographic and film equipment arranged around the entire perimeter.
When the planned test day arrived, and this was August 29, an RDS-1 charge was detonated in the very center of the site at an altitude of 37 m. Up to a great height, a nuclear mushroom rose. Thus began the deadly work of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. The memories of testers and ordinary civilians, who became hostages of that era and watching this action, are almost the same: a bomb explosion is both a majestic and terrible sight.
Explosion Statistics
So, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, whose history is rather gloomy and sinister, has become mortally dangerous for people living near it. It functioned from 1949 to 1989. During this time, more than 450 tests were carried out, during which about 600 both nuclear and thermonuclear devices were detonated. Of these, there were approximately 30 ground and at least 85 air. In addition, other tests were carried out, which included hydrodynamic and hydro-nuclear experiments.
It is known that the total power of the charges dropped on the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site from 1949 to 1963 is 2.2 thousand times greater than the strength of the atomic bomb dropped by the USA in Hiroshima in 1945.
Effects
The landfill located in the Kazakh steppes was special. It is known not only for its vast territory and the most advanced deadly nuclear charges exploding on it, but also for the fact that the local population was constantly on its lands. This has not happened anywhere else in the world. Due to the fact that the first few nuclear charges were imperfect, out of 64 kilograms of uranium used, the chain reaction affected only about 700 g, and the rest turned into so-called radioactive dust, which settled on the ground after the explosion.
Therefore, the consequences of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site are terrible. The tests carried out on it fully reflected on local residents. Take, for example, the explosion that occurred on 11/22/1955. It was a thermonuclear charge labeled RDS-37. He was thrown from an airplane, and he detonated somewhere at an altitude of 1550 m. As a result, a nuclear mushroom formed, having a diameter of up to 30 km and a height of 13-14 km. It was visible in 59 settlements. Within a radius of two hundred kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, all the windows in the houses were broken. In one of the villages, a little girl died, in 36 km there was a collapse of the ceiling, killing one soldier, and more than 500 residents received various injuries. The power of this explosion can be judged by the fact that in Semipalatinsk, located 130 km from the site, 3 people recorded a concussion.
One can only guess what further nuclear tests could lead to, if not for the agreement on their ban on water, air and outer space, signed by the leading powers in this area in 1963.
Fields of application
Over the years of nuclear testing, a lot of valuable information has been accumulated. Most of the data to this day are marked with the heading "secret." Few people know that the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was used for testing not only in the military, but also for industrial purposes. There are also such documents that state that the USSR fired more than 120 explosions not on the territories of military sites.
Nuclear charges were used to create the underground voids needed in the oil and gas industry, and also increased the return on mineral deposits already starting to deplete. Oddly enough, but the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site has become a springboard for accumulating vast experience in the use of such explosions for peaceful purposes.
Closing
1989 was the year that nuclear tests ceased. Exactly 42 years after the explosion of the first bomb - on August 29, 1991 - Kazakh President N. Nazarbayev signed a special Decree aimed at closing the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. After 3 years, the entire arsenal of this type of weapon was removed from the territory of this state.
After another 2 years, all the military left, but left behind ugly scars on the ground in the form of craters, adits and thousands of kilometers of soil poisoned by radioactive particles.
Kurchatov
It has already been 24 years after the Semipalatinsk test site was closed. But Kurchatov - the so-called once closed city - is still extremely popular with foreigners. And this is not surprising, since many dream of seeing how powerful the extinct superpower called the USSR had. Tourists who come here have one route: Kurchatov - an experimental field - an unusual lake, which is called Atomic.
At first, the new city was called Moscow-400. Relatives of specialists working there came to the capital and looked for their loved ones there. They did not even realize that they now live 3 thousand km from Moscow. Therefore, in 1960, this settlement was renamed Semipalatinsk-21, and a little later, Kurchatov. The latter name is given in honor of the famous developer of the USSR nuclear program Igor Kurchatov, who lived and worked here.
This city was built from scratch in almost 2 years. During the construction of houses, it was taken into account that officers and scientists with their families will live here. Therefore, the city of Kurchatov was supplied in the highest category. Relatives who came to visit their loved ones believed that they live almost in paradise. While in Moscow people had to queue for hours in line for groceries in their hands, in Kurchatov, shelves in stores simply burst with an unusual abundance of goods.
Atomic lake
It appeared as a result of an explosion made in mid-January 1965 in the confluence of the two main rivers of the region - Ashchisu and Shagan. The atomic charge power was 140 kilotons. After the explosion, a funnel appeared with a diameter of 400 m and a depth of more than 100 m. Radionuclide contamination of the earth around this lake was about 3-4 km. Here is the nuclear legacy of the Semipalatinsk test site.
