The nuclear weapons tests of the Soviet Union were performed between 1949 and 1990 as part of the
nuclear arms race. The
Soviet Union conducted 715 nuclear tests using 969 total devices by official count, including 219 atmospheric, underwater, and space tests and 124
peaceful use tests.
[ Official numbers and those in the table differ due to eleven tests, all fizzles, cited in other references and the one bomb left in its shaft when the Russians abandoned the Semipalatinsk site to Kazakhstan.] Most of the tests took place at the
Southern Test Site in Semipalatinsk,
Kazakhstan and the Northern Test Site at
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...
. Other tests took place at various locations within the Soviet Union, including now-independent Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan,
Ukraine and
Turkmenistan.
List
See also
*
List of nuclear weapons tests
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents
*
Soviet Union Wespons Tests