1949–51 Soviet nuclear tests

none List of nuclear weapons tests of the Soviet Union 1949–1951 Soviet Union Ground Zero, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 1949–1951 3 air drop, tower 42 ktTNT in 1953 Soviet nuclear tests 1949–51 Soviet nuclear tests The Soviet Union's 1949–1951 nuclear test series was a group of 3 nuclear tests conducted in 1949–1951. These tests preceded the 1953 Soviet nuclear tests series. + Soviet Union's 1949–1951 series tests and detonations Name 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. Date time (UT) Local time zoneTo 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.Time Zone Historical Database iana.com http://www.ietf.org/timezones/ 2014-03-08 LocationRough 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 + height 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. Delivery,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.Purpose Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down. DeviceDesignations 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. YieldEstimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie). FalloutRadioactive 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 Notes 1 (Joe 1)1 (Joe 1) dmy 1949 8 29 00:00:?? ALMT (6 hrs) Ground Zero, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 50.43794 77.81409 1 (Joe 1) inline 000308278 m on + 30 m on tower,weapons development RDS-1 000220000 22 kt By Beria's instruction, this was an exact copy of the USA's Fat Man. The name Pyervaya Molniya (First Lightning) first appeared in the 1990s. 2 (Joe 2)2 (Joe 2) dmy 1951 9 24 06:19:?? ALMT (6 hrs) Ground Zero, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 50.43 77.83 2 (Joe 2) inline 000309279 m on + 30 m on tower,weapons development RDS-2 000383000 38.3 kt 3 (Joe 3)3 (Joe 3) dmy 1951 10 18 03:53:?? ALMT (6 hrs) Ground Zero, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 50.422046 77.789446 3 (Joe 3) inline 000659279 m on + 380 m on air drop,weapons development RDS-3 000420000 42 kt The first bomb drop test. note References RFNC-VNIIEF 1996 USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990 Sarov, Russia The official Russian list of Soviet tests. Podvig Pavel 2001 Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces MIT Press Cambridge, MA 9780262661812 https://books.google.com/books?id=CPRVbYDc-7kC&pg=PA453 2014-01-09 Cochran Thomas B. Arkin William M. Robert S. Norris Jeffrey I. Sands Nuclear Weapons Databook Vol. IV: Soviet Nuclear Weapons Harper and Row New York, NY Nuclear explosions in the USSR: The North Test Site reference material, version 4 December 1, 2004 IAEA Dept. of Nuclear Safety and Security http://www-ns.iaea.org/downloads/rw/waste-safety/north-test-site-final.pdf December 13, 2013 Alex Wellerstein Pavel Podvig Semipalatinsk Then and Now 2012-06-15 See comments about "First Lightning" name http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/06/15/Friday-images-semipalantisk-then-now 2014-03-04 Central Intelligence Agency National Intelligence Estimate 11-2A-62 http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000843187.pdf Soviet Atomic Energy Program May 16, 1962 Yang Xiaoping Robert North Carl Romney August 2000 CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) SMDC Monitoring Research 1949-1951 Category:1949 in the Soviet Union Category:1951 in the Soviet Union Category:1949 in military history Category:1951 in military history Category:1949 explosions Category:1951 explosions