Semipalatinsk nuclear test site is one of the darkest pages in the history of confrontation between the 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 got closer to their discovery, the more pressing became the question of where to test this latest development. And the 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 suitable terrain in order to try out new weapons. It was the steppes of Kazakhstan, which turned into the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Few people know where this place is today. To be more precise, these are the steppes on the right bank of the Irtysh, only 130 km from Semipalatinsk.
Later it became clear that the terrain of the area was the best suited for underground explosions in wells and adits. The only drawback was the fact that there was a Chinese consulate in Semipalatinsk, but it was soon closed.
August 21, 1947, a decree was issued inwhich said that the construction started earlier by the Gulag is now being transferred to the military department under the name "Training ground No. 2 of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs (military unit 52605)". Lieutenant-General P. M. Rozhanovich was appointed its head, and M. A. Sadovsky, who later became an academician, was appointed scientific supervisor.
Tests
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 they prepared for it thoroughly. This was necessary in order to record the maximum amount of information about the effectiveness and consequences of using this new weapon.
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 separated from it and divided into sectors. On this territory, an imitation of residential buildings and fortifications was built, as well as civil and military equipment. In addition, in these sectors there were more than one and a half thousand animals and measuring photo and film equipment placed around the entire perimeter.
When the scheduled test day came, and it was August 29, an RDS-1 charge was blown up in the very center of the site at a height of 37 m. A mushroom cloud rose up to a great height. Thus, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site began its deadly work. The recollections of testers and ordinary civilians who became hostages of that era and watched this action are almost the same: a bomb explosion isboth majestic and terrifying.
Explosion statistics
Thus, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, whose history is rather gloomy and sinister, has become deadly 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 nuclear and thermonuclear devices were blown up. Of these, there were approximately 30 ground and at least 85 air. In addition, other tests were carried out, which included hydrodynamic and hydronuclear 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 power of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States in 1945 on Hiroshima.
Consequences
The landfill, located in the Kazakh steppes, was special. It is known not only for its vast territory and the most advanced deadly nuclear weapons exploding on it, but also for the fact that the local population was constantly on its lands. This has never happened anywhere else in the world. Due to the fact that the first few nuclear charges were imperfect, of the 64 kilograms of uranium used, only about 700 g were affected by the chain reaction, and the rest turned into so-called radioactive dust, which settled on the ground after the explosion.
That's why the consequences of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site are terrible. The tests carried out on itfully reflected in the local residents. Take, for example, the explosion that occurred on November 22, 1955. It was a thermonuclear charge marked RDS-37. It was thrown from a plane, and it detonated somewhere at an altitude of 1550 m. As a result, a nuclear mushroom was formed, which had 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, a ceiling collapsed 36 km away, 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 itself, located 130 km from the site, 3 people had a concussion.
One can only guess what further nuclear tests could lead to if it were not for the treaty banning them in water, air and outer spaces, signed by the leading powers in this area in 1963.
Application areas
During the years of nuclear testing, a lot of valuable information has been accumulated. Most of the data to this day is marked "secret". Few people know that the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was used for testing not only for military purposes, but also for industrial purposes. There are also documents that say that the USSR carried out more than 120 explosions not on the territories of military sites.
Nuclear charges were used to create underground voids needed in the oil and gas industry, and also increased the return of mineral deposits that were already beginning to deplete. Oddly enough, but the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site has become a springboard for the accumulation of vast experience in the use of such explosions for peaceful purposes.
Closing
1989 was the year of the cessation of nuclear testing. 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 2 years, all the military left there, but left behind ugly scars on the ground in the form of funnels, adits and thousands of kilometers of soil poisoned by radioactive particles.
Kurchatov
It has been 24 years since the Semipalatinsk test site was closed. But Kurchatov - that was the name of the once closed city - is still extremely popular with foreigners. And this is not surprising, since many dream of seeing what power the disappeared superpower called the USSR possessed. 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 the specialists who worked there came to the capital and looked for their loved ones there. They did not even guess that they now live 3 thousand km from Moscow. Therefore, in 1960, this settlement was renamed Semipalatinsk-21, and a littlelater in Kurchatov. The last name is given in honor of the well-known 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 would live here. Therefore, the city of Kurchatov was supplied according to the highest category. Relatives who came to visit their loved ones believed that they live almost in paradise. Whereas in Moscow people had to stand in line for hours for groceries with vouchers in their hands, in Kurchatov the shelves in stores were simply bursting with an unusual abundance of goods.
Atomic Lake
It appeared as a result of an explosion carried out in mid-January 1965 at the confluence of the two main rivers of the region - Ashchisu and Shagan. The power of the atomic charge 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 land around this lake was about 3-4 km. This is the nuclear legacy of the Semipalatinsk test site.
Victims of the landfill
A year after the first nuclear explosion, child mortality increased by almost 5 times, and adult life expectancy decreased by 3-4 years. In subsequent years, the development of congenital malformations among the population of the region only increased and after 12 years reached a record 21.2% per 1 thousand newborns. All of them are victims of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
In the hazardous areas of this site, the radioactive background in 2009 was 15-20 milliroentgens per hour. Despite this, people still live there. Until 2006, the territory was not only not protected, but was not marked on the map. The local population used part of the site as pasture for livestock.
Recently, the President of Kazakhstan has defined a special status for people who lived from 1949 to 1990 near the facility, which was called the "Semipalatinsk nuclear test site". Benefits for the population are distributed taking into account the remoteness of their place of residence from the experimental site. The contaminated area is divided into 5 zones. Depending on this, a one-time monetary compensation is calculated, as well as a wage supplement. It also provides for additional days for annual leave. In the event that a person arrived in one of the zones after 1991, benefits do not apply to him.
