1969 Soviet nuclear tests

1969
Information
Country	Soviet Union
Test site	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Mangystau, Kazakhstan; NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia; Perm, Russia; Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Stavropol, Russia
Period	1969
Number of tests	19
Test type	underground shaft, underground tunnel
Max. yield	540 kilotonnes of TNT (2,300 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test series	1968 Soviet nuclear tests
Next test series	1970 Soviet nuclear tests

The Soviet Union's 1969 nuclear test series^[1] was a group of 19 nuclear tests conducted in 1969. These tests ^{[note 1]} followed the 1968 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1970 Soviet nuclear tests series.

Soviet Union's 1969 series tests and detonations

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
297	7 March 1969 08:26:59.8	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Zh-2p 49°49′17″N 78°03′46″E / 49.8215°N 78.0627°E	650 m (2,130 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		49 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
298	4 April 1969 04:57:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 19p 49°45′16″N 78°03′36″E / 49.75437°N 78.05993°E	728 m (2,388 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][4][6][7][8]
299	13 April 1969	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 24p 49°44′10″N 78°06′02″E / 49.7362°N 78.1005°E	673 m (2,208 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		unknown yield		[1][4][6][7][8]
300	16 May 1969 04:02:59.7	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 709 49°45′34″N 78°04′33″E / 49.7594°N 78.0758°E	629 m (2,064 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		16 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
301	31 May 1969 05:01:59.4	ALMT (6 hrs)	Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 108 49°57′04″N 77°41′11″E / 49.95107°N 77.6865°E	460 m (1,510 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		18 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]
302 - 1	4 July 1969 02:46:59.6	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 710 49°44′46″N 78°06′41″E / 49.746°N 78.1113°E	599 m (1,965 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		15 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
302 - 2	4 July 1969 02:46:59.6	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 710 49°44′46″N 78°06′41″E / 49.746°N 78.1113°E	599 m (1,965 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][4][6][7][8]
303	23 July 1969 02:47:00.2	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 801 49°48′56″N 78°07′47″E / 49.8156°N 78.1296°E	659 m (2,162 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		16 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
304 Grifon (Griffin)	2 September 1969 04:59:58.6	SVET (5 hrs)	Perm, Russia: 1001 57°13′12″N 55°23′35″E / 57.22°N 55.393°E	- 1,210 m (3,970 ft)	underground shaft, oil stimulation		7.6 kt		[1][5][6][7][8][9]	Oil recovery intensification.
305 Grifon (Griffin)	8 September 1969 04:59:58.7	SVET (5 hrs)	Perm, Russia: 1002 57°13′12″N 55°25′01″E / 57.22°N 55.417°E	- 1,210 m (3,970 ft)	underground shaft, oil stimulation		7.6 kt		[1][5][6][7][8][9]	Oil recovery intensification.
306 - 1	11 September 1969 04:02:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 503 49°46′35″N 77°59′48″E / 49.7763°N 77.9967°E	682 m (2,238 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		6.2 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
306 - 2	11 September 1969 04:02:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 503 49°46′35″N 77°59′48″E / 49.7763°N 77.9967°E	682 m (2,238 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		unknown yield		[1][3][4][6][7][8]
307 Stavropol	26 September 1969 06:59:58.1	MSK (3 hrs)	Stavropol, Russia: ? 45°53′24″N 42°28′19″E / 45.89°N 42.472°E	- 725 m (2,379 ft)	underground shaft, oil stimulation		10 kt		[1][5][6][7][8][9]	Gas extraction intensification.
308 - 1	1 October 1969 04:02:59.9	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 607 49°46′57″N 78°05′54″E / 49.7825°N 78.0983°E	634 m (2,080 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		16 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]
308 - 2	1 October 1969 04:02:59.9	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 607 49°46′57″N 78°05′54″E / 49.7825°N 78.0983°E	634 m (2,080 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][4][6][7][8]
309 - 1	14 October 1969 07:00:06.61	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-7 73°23′24″N 54°47′13″E / 73.39°N 54.787°E	100 m (330 ft) - 500 m (1,600 ft)	underground tunnel, weapons development		540 kt	Venting detected, more than 1 MCi (37 PBq)	[1][5][6][7][10]	80 military personnel witnessing the test were exposed to venting to levels of 40–80 rads.
309 - 2	14 October 1969 07:00:06.6	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-7 73°23′24″N 54°47′13″E / 73.39°N 54.787°E	100 m (330 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][6][7][8][11]
309 - 3	14 October 1969 07:00:07	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-9 73°24′N 54°48′E / 73.4°N 54.8°E	100 m (330 ft) - 520 m (1,710 ft)	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield	Venting detected off site, more than 1 kCi (37 TBq)	[1][6][7][8][11]
310	30 October 1969	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 506p 49°50′20″N 78°07′10″E / 49.83878°N 78.11945°E	580 m (1,900 ft) +	underground tunnel, safety experiment		unknown yield		[1][4][6][7][8]
311	27 November 1969 05:02:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 511 49°49′51″N 78°04′04″E / 49.83077°N 78.06776°E	600 m (2,000 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		unknown yield		[1][4][6][7][8]
312	30 November 1969 03:32:59.7	ALMT (6 hrs)	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1054 49°55′29″N 78°57′19″E / 49.92472°N 78.95522°E	330 m (1,080 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		125 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]
313 Say-Utes 2T	6 December 1969 07:02:59.9	SHET (5 hrs)	Mangystau, Kazakhstan: 2-T 43°49′11″N 54°46′59″E / 43.81986°N 54.78317°E	- 410 m (1,350 ft)	underground shaft, earth moving		30 kt		[1][5][6][7][8]	Alluvial crators created, possibly testing for thermonuke test site.
314	28 December 1969 03:47:00.2	ALMT (6 hrs)	Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 107 49°56′15″N 77°42′51″E / 49.93742°N 77.71418°E	460 m (1,510 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		40 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]
315	29 December 1969 04:02:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Sh-1 49°44′01″N 78°06′08″E / 49.7337°N 78.1022°E	496 m (1,627 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		10 kt		[1][3][4][5][6][7]

1. 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., Editor in Chief. "Catalog of World Wide Nuclear Testing". Begell-Atom, LLC.
2. 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.
3. 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:
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
8. 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.
9. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
10. 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. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Podvig, Pavel, ed. (2001). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
7. USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990. Sarov, Russia: RFNC-VNIIEF. 1996. The official Russian list of Soviet tests.
8. 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.
9. Nordyke, M.D. The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions (PDF) (UCRL-ID-12441O Rev 2). Retrieved December 13, 2013.
10. 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 13 December 2013.
11. 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.