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. [1] Most of the tests took place at the Southern Test Site in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan and the Northern Test Site at Novaya Zemlya. Other tests took place at various locations within the Soviet Union, including now-independent Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan.
Series or years | Years covered | Tests [Summ 1] | Devices fired | Devices with unknown yield | Peaceful use tests | Non-PTBT tests [Summ 2] | Yield range (kilotons) [Summ 3] | Total yield (kilotons) [Summ 4] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949–1951 | 1949–1951 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 22 to 42 | 102 | There were no Soviet tests in 1950. | ||
1953 | 1953 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 to 400 | 440 | |||
1954 | 1954 | 10 | 10 | 10 | small to 62 | 122 | |||
1955 | 1955 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 to 1,600 | 1,868 | |||
1956 | 1956 | 9 | 9 | 9 | small to 900 | 1,976 | |||
1957 | 1957 | 16 | 16 | 16 | small to 2,900 | 6,239 | |||
1958 | 1958 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 0 to 2,900 | 16,252 | 1959 and 1960 have no testing, a bilateral moratorium between the USSR and the US, officially beginning 31 Oct 1958. | ||
1961 | 1961 | 57 | 57 | 56 | small to 50,000 | 87,702 | The USSR abrogated the moratorium on 1 September 1961. | ||
K project | 1961–1962 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 to 300 | 902 | |||
1962 | 1962 | 78 | 78 | 77 | small to 24,200 | 140,662 | The Soviets executed no tests in 1963. | ||
1964 | 1964 | 9 | 9 | 2 | small to 47 | 167 | |||
1965 | 1965 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 2 | small to 140 | 343 | ||
1966 | 1966 | 18 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 1 to 700 | 1,954 | ||
1967 | 1967 | 17 | 23 | 6 | 5 | small to 260 | 657 | ||
1968 | 1968 | 17 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 2 | small to 165 | 585 | |
1969 | 1969 | 19 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 6 to 540 | 906 | ||
1970 | 1970 | 16 | 21 | 7 | 7 | small to 2,200 | 2,625 | ||
1971 | 1971 | 23 | 29 | 6 | 8 | 1 | small to 2,450 | 2,926 | |
1972 | 1972 | 24 | 31 | 8 | 9 | small to 1,120 | 1,646 | ||
1973 | 1973 | 17 | 22 | 5 | 6 | small to 4,000 | 8,409 | ||
1974 | 1974 | 21 | 27 | 6 | 7 | small to 2,300 | 3,750 | ||
1975 | 1975 | 19 | 35 | 17 | 4 | small to 1,300 | 4,481 | ||
1976 | 1976 | 21 | 27 | 6 | 3 | small to 130 | 629 | ||
1977 | 1977 | 24 | 36 | 13 | 7 | small to 120 | 552 | ||
1978 | 1978 | 31 | 55 | 21 | 9 | small to 180 | 1,290 | ||
1979 | 1979 | 31 | 52 | 17 | 9 | small to 150 | 1,474 | ||
1980 | 1980 | 24 | 43 | 21 | 5 | small to 200 | 847 | ||
1981 | 1981 | 21 | 37 | 16 | 5 | small to 150 | 828 | ||
1982 | 1982 | 20 | 35 | 13 | 8 | 2 to 145 | 1,539 | ||
1983 | 1983 | 27 | 39 | 14 | 10 | 0 to 150 | 778 | ||
1984 | 1984 | 29 | 45 | 15 | 11 | 1 to 150 | 1,330 | ||
1985 | 1985 | 10 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 1 to 114 | 426 | There was no Soviet testing in 1986. | |
1987 | 1987 | 24 | 40 | 16 | 6 | 0 to 150 | 1,145 | ||
1988 | 1988 | 16 | 29 | 9 | 2 | small to 150 | 905 | ||
1989 | 1989 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 4 to 118 | 308 | |||
1990 | 1990 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 0 to 70 | 70 | The USSR announced Soviet ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and ended testing on 24 October 1990. | ||
Totals | 1949-Aug-29 to 1991-May-01 | 727 | 981 | 248 | 156 | 229 | 0 to 50,000 | 296,837 | Total country yield is 54.9% of all nuclear testing. |
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength. Many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status through a nuclear test.
Chagan (Чага́н) was a Soviet underground nuclear test conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site on January 15, 1965.
The Soviet Union's 1966 nuclear test series was a group of 18 nuclear tests conducted in 1966. These tests followed the 1965 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1967 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1967 nuclear test series was a group of 17 nuclear tests conducted in 1967. These tests followed the 1966 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1968 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1968 nuclear test series was a group of 17 nuclear tests conducted in 1968. These tests followed the 1967 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1969 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1969 nuclear test series was a group of 19 nuclear tests conducted in 1969. These tests followed the 1968 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1970 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1970 nuclear test series was a group of 16 nuclear tests conducted in 1970. These tests followed the 1969 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1971 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1973 nuclear test series was a group of 17 nuclear tests conducted in 1973. These tests followed the 1972 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1974 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1975 nuclear test series was a group of 19 nuclear tests conducted in 1975. These tests followed the 1974 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1976 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1978 nuclear test series was a group of 31 nuclear tests conducted in 1978. These tests followed the 1977 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1979 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1980 nuclear test series was a group of 24 nuclear tests conducted in 1980. These tests followed the 1979 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1981 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1981 nuclear test series was a group of 21 nuclear tests conducted in 1981. These tests followed the 1980 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1982 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1987 nuclear test series was a group of 24 nuclear tests conducted in 1987. These tests followed the 1985 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1988 Soviet nuclear tests series.
The Soviet Union's 1989 nuclear test series was a group of 7 nuclear tests conducted in 1989. These tests followed the 1988 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1990 Soviet nuclear tests series.