Shagan () or Chagan () is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in Zhanasemey District,

Abai Region Abai Region (, ) is a Regions of Kazakhstan, region of Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced on 16 March 2022 that the region would be created. The area split off from East Kazakhstan Region when Tokayev's bill came into force on 8 ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

Formed by a nuclear test explosion in 1965, it is part of the Balapan complex, one of the main tourist attractions of the

Semipalatinsk Test Site The Semipalatinsk Test Site or Semipalatinsk-21 (; ), also known as "The Polygon", was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. It is located in Zhanasemey District, Abai Region, Kazakhstan, south of the valley of the Ir ...

Geography

The lake lies to the south of the

Irtysh The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob (river), Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world. The river's source lies in the Altai Mountains, Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern p ...

and about to the southwest of

Semey Semey (; , formerly known as Semipalatinsk ( ) until 2007 and as Alash-Qala ( ) from 1917 to 1920, is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. I ...

, formerly Semipalatinsk. The lake lies to the north of the confluence of the Shagan river, of the

basin, and its tributary the north-flowing Ashchysu. The Shagan river was channeled to fill the newly created crater until 1965. A few years later, a dam was built on the left bank of the river to control the water level in the reservoir that formed to the south. The reservoir still exists today, unchanged since the explosion. It is used to provide water for local cattle.

History

The lake was formed in the area known as the Balapan Complex by the Chagan nuclear test on January 15, 1965, which was conducted as part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy (; sometimes referred to as ''Program #7'') was a Soviet program to investigate peaceful nuclear explosions (''PNEs''). It was analogous to the United States program '' Operation Plowshare'', although t ...

program. A 140 kiloton device was placed in a hole in the dry bed at the confluence of the Shagan and Ashchysu rivers. The blast created a circular crater across and deep with a lip height of . The crater was filled shortly after the nuclear blast by the water of the rivers and it is often referred to as "Atomic Lake" (). The crater lake's volume is approximately . To the south, the rim of the crater holds back the waters of a two-lobed reservoir. It was estimated that some 20% of the radioactive products from the Chagan test escaped the blast zone, and were detected over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. This infuriated the United States for violating the provisions of the October 1963

Limited Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), formally known as the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. It ...

, which banned atmospheric tests. The water continues to be radioactive – about 100 times more than the permitted level of

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

s in the water. Locals fish in the lake, despite warnings by authorities that it is hazardous.

Media

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's documentary series ''Dark Tourist'' (season 1 episode 4, "The Stans"), David Farrier visits and swims in Lake Chagan, and eats a fish from the lake, during his tour of Kazakhstan.

References

* *

External links

* * Chagan Peaceful nuclear explosions Explosion craters Geography of Abai Region {{AbaiRegion-geo-stub

Geography

History

Media

See also

References

External links