1964 Soviet nuclear tests

1964
Information
Country	Soviet Union
Test site	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia
Period	1964
Number of tests	9
Test type	underground tunnel
Max. yield	47 kilotonnes of TNT (200 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test series	1962 Soviet nuclear tests
Next test series	1965 Soviet nuclear tests

The Soviet Union's 1964 nuclear test series^[1] 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.

Soviet Union's 1964 series tests and detonations

Name [note 1]	Date time (UT)	Local time zone [note 2][2]	Location [note 3]	Elevation + height [note 4]	Delivery, [note 5] Purpose [note 6]	Device [note 7]	Yield [note 8]	Fallout [note 9]	References	Notes
222	15 March 1964 08:00:00.4	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A-6 49°48′58″N 78°04′31″E / 49.816°N 78.0752°E	710 m (2,330 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapon effect		37 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
223	16 May 1964 06:00:59.8	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A-4 49°48′28″N 78°06′07″E / 49.8077°N 78.102°E	698 m (2,290 ft) - 260 m (850 ft)	underground tunnel, weapons development		23.7 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
224	6 June 1964	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: V-2 49°46′23″N 77°59′12″E / 49.77307°N 77.98674°E	700 m (2,300 ft) +	underground tunnel, fundamental science		1.6 kt		[1][3][5][6][7]
225	19 July 1964 06:00:00.6	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A-5 49°48′33″N 78°05′34″E / 49.8091°N 78.0929°E	695 m (2,280 ft) +	underground tunnel, fundamental science		26 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
226	18 August 1964 06:00:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A-8 49°49′19″N 78°04′51″E / 49.82191°N 78.08077°E	700 m (2,300 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		70 t	Venting detected	[1][3][4][5][6][8]	Intended to be identical to first Semipalatinsk tunnel explosion, #117.
227	18 September 1964 08:00:00.4	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: G 73°40′01″N 54°31′59″E / 73.667°N 54.533°E	100 m (330 ft) - 130 m (430 ft)	underground tunnel, fundamental science		2 kt	Venting detected on site, 3.8 kCi (140 TBq)	[1][5][6][7][9]
228	30 September 1964	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A-6 49°49′07″N 78°04′44″E / 49.81866°N 78.07898°E	710 m (2,330 ft) +	underground tunnel, fundamental science		less than 20 kt	Venting detected	[1][3][5][6][7]
229	25 October 1964 07:59:58.1	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: B 73°23′13″N 54°59′06″E / 73.387°N 54.985°E	100 m (330 ft) - 400 m (1,300 ft)	underground tunnel, peaceful research		20 kt	Venting detected on site, 1 MCi (37 PBq)	[1][4][5][6][7][8]
230	16 November 1964 06:00:00.2	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Z-5 49°48′31″N 78°08′00″E / 49.8087°N 78.1334°E	730 m (2,400 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		47 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][10]

1. 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.
2. 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. All historical timezone data are derived from here:
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
7. 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.
8. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
9. 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

1. Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) (Technical report). SMDC Monitoring Research.
2. "Timezone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
3. 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. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
4. 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.
5. Podvig, Pavel, ed. (2001). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
6. USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990. Sarov, Russia: RFNC-VNIIEF. 1996. The official Russian list of Soviet tests.
7. 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.
8. Khalturin, Vitaly I.; Rautian, Tatyana G.; Richards, Paul G.; Leith, William S. (10 April 2004). "A Review of Nuclear Testing by the Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya, 1955--1990" (PDF). Science and Global Security. 13 (1). doi:10.1080/08929880590961862. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
9. Andrushkin, Vitaly V.; Leith, William (September 1, 2001). The containment of Soviet underground nuclear explosions (PDF) (Open File Report 01-312). USGS. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
10. Thurber, Clifford; Trabant, Chad; Hartog, Renate. Assessing Event Location Capability with Ground Truth Events at the Degelen Mountain Test Site, Kazakhstan (DSWA01-98-10008). Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Arms Control Technology Division, Nuclear Treaties Branch. Retrieved December 13, 2013.