1972 Soviet nuclear tests

1972
Information
Country	Soviet Union
Test site	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Kharkiv, Ukraine; Kostanay, Kazakhstan; Murmansk, Russia; NZ Area A, Chyornaya Guba, Novaya Zemlya, Russia; NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia; Orenburg, Russia; Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; Turkmenistan; Western Kazakhstan
Period	1972
Number of tests	24
Test type	underground shaft, underground tunnel
Max. yield	1.1 megatonnes of TNT (4.6 PJ)
Navigation
Previous test series	1971 Soviet nuclear tests
Next test series	1973 Soviet nuclear tests

The Soviet Union's 1972 nuclear test series^[1] was a group of 24 nuclear tests conducted in 1972. These tests ^{[note 1]} followed the 1971 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1973 Soviet nuclear tests series.

Soviet Union's 1972 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
355	10 February 1972 05:03:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1007 50°01′30″N 78°52′38″E / 50.02495°N 78.87728°E	330 m (1,080 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		16 kt	Venting detected	[1][3][4][5][6]
356 - 1	10 March 1972 04:56:59.8	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 201 49°44′43″N 78°07′11″E / 49.7453°N 78.1197°E	672 m (2,205 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		28 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
356 - 2	10 March 1972 04:56:59.8	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 201 49°44′43″N 78°07′11″E / 49.7453°N 78.1197°E	672 m (2,205 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][5][6][7]
357 - 1	28 March 1972 04:22:00.1	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 191 49°43′59″N 78°04′33″E / 49.7331°N 78.0757°E	655 m (2,149 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		6 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
357 - 2	28 March 1972 04:22:00.1	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 191 49°43′59″N 78°04′33″E / 49.7331°N 78.0757°E	655 m (2,149 ft) +	underground tunnel, peaceful research		unknown yield		[1][3][5][6][7]
357 - 3	28 March 1972 04:22:00.1	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 191 49°43′59″N 78°04′33″E / 49.7331°N 78.0757°E	655 m (2,149 ft) +	underground tunnel, safety experiment		1000 kg		[1][3][5][6][7]
358 Krator (Crater)	11 April 1972 06:00:01.9	ASHT (5 hrs)	Turkmenistan: ? 36°33′42″N 62°48′49″E / 36.56173°N 62.81352°E	- 1,720 m (5,640 ft)	underground shaft, extinguishing oil/gas fires		15 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Gas fire shaft closure.
359	20 April 1972	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 505p 49°50′37″N 78°06′18″E / 49.84352°N 78.10513°E	587 m (1,926 ft) +	underground tunnel, safety experiment		1000 kg		[1][3][5][6][7]
360	7 June 1972 01:28:??	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 110 49°49′36″N 78°06′56″E / 49.8267°N 78.1155°E	618 m (2,028 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][5][6][7]
361	7 June 1972 01:28:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 601 49°46′15″N 77°59′29″E / 49.77091°N 77.9914°E	620 m (2,030 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapon effect		25 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
362	6 July 1972 01:03:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 157-M 49°44′15″N 78°06′36″E / 49.7375°N 78.1101°E	650 m (2,130 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapon effect		1.5 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
363 Fakel (Torch)	9 July 1972 07:00:01.3	MSK (3 hrs)	Kharkiv, Ukraine: ? 49°28′47″N 35°29′41″E / 49.47973°N 35.49465°E	- 2,483 m (8,146 ft)	underground shaft, extinguishing oil/gas fires		3.8 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Gas fire shaft closure. 15 km N Krasnodar, Ukraine.
364	27 July 1972 10:00:??	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area A, Chyornaya Guba, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: Yu-3 70°50′N 54°09′E / 70.83°N 54.15°E	30 m (98 ft) +	underground shaft, fundamental science		10 kt		[1][5][6][7][8][9]	Did not register seismically; may have been a fizzle.
365	16 August 1972 03:16:59.8	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 708 49°45′56″N 78°03′32″E / 49.7655°N 78.0588°E	555 m (1,821 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapon effect		8 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
366 Region 3	20 August 1972 03:00:00.0	URAT (5 hrs)	Western Kazakhstan: R-3 49°24′00″N 48°08′31″E / 49.4°N 48.142°E	- 490 m (1,610 ft)	underground shaft, seismic sounding		6.6 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Seismic probing program. 250 km SW Uralsk.
367	26 August 1972 03:46:59.7	ALMT (6 hrs)	Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 132 49°58′56″N 77°42′58″E / 49.98233°N 77.71601°E	460 m (1,510 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		21 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
368 - 1	28 August 1972 05:59:56.87	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-16 73°23′17″N 54°50′49″E / 73.388°N 54.847°E	100 m (330 ft) - 900 m (3,000 ft)	underground tunnel, weapons development		1.1 Mt	Venting detected off site, 1 MCi (37 PBq)	[1][4][5][6][10]
368 - 2	28 August 1972 05:59:56.9	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-16 73°23′17″N 54°50′49″E / 73.388°N 54.847°E	100 m (330 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][5][6][7][9]
368 - 3	28 August 1972 05:59:56.9	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-16 73°23′17″N 54°50′49″E / 73.388°N 54.847°E	100 m (330 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][5][6][7][9]
368 - 4	28 August 1972 05:59:56.9	MSK (3 hrs)	NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-16 73°23′17″N 54°50′49″E / 73.388°N 54.847°E	100 m (330 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][5][6][7][9]
369	2 September 1972 08:56:59.9	ALMT (6 hrs)	Sary-Uzen/Murzhik, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 128 49°57′36″N 77°38′29″E / 49.96002°N 77.64146°E	460 m (1,510 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		2 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
370 Dnepr 1	4 September 1972 07:00:00.0	MSK (3 hrs)	Murmansk, Russia: Dnepr-1 67°47′28″N 33°36′30″E / 67.79105°N 33.60823°E	- 130 m (430 ft)	underground tunnel, industrial		2.1 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Ore crushing technology. Used methods developed in shots 366 and 415 to keep radioactivity out of broken ore body.
371 Region 1	21 September 1972 09:00:00.3	SVET (5 hrs)	Orenburg, Russia: R-1 52°07′05″N 52°04′05″E / 52.118°N 52.068°E	- 490 m (1,610 ft)	underground shaft, seismic sounding		2.3 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Seismic probing program. 21 km SSW Buzuluk.
373	2 November 1972 01:27:00.2	ALMT (6 hrs)	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1061 49°55′37″N 78°49′02″E / 49.92697°N 78.81725°E	330 m (1,080 ft) +	underground shaft, weapons development		165 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
374 Region 2	24 November 1972 09:00:00.0	SVET (5 hrs)	Orenburg, Russia: R-2 51°59′24″N 51°52′01″E / 51.99°N 51.867°E	- 680 m (2,230 ft)	underground shaft, seismic sounding		2.3 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Seismic probing program. 90 km SSW Buzuluk.
375 Region 5	24 November 1972 10:00:00.2	ALMT (6 hrs)	Kostanay, Kazakhstan: R-5 51°50′29″N 64°12′48″E / 51.84143°N 64.21328°E	- 425 m (1,394 ft)	underground shaft, seismic sounding		6.6 kt		[1][4][5][6][7]	Seismic probing program. 170 km SSE Kustonay.
376 - 1	10 December 1972 04:27:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: Z-2 49°49′25″N 78°04′43″E / 49.82353°N 78.07857°E	660 m (2,170 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		58 kt		[1][3][4][5][6]
376 - 2	10 December 1972 04:27:00	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 140 49°49′10″N 78°03′30″E / 49.8194°N 78.0582°E	646 m (2,119 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][5][6][7]
377	10 December 1972 04:27:10.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1204 50°01′40″N 78°59′44″E / 50.02772°N 78.99545°E	330 m (1,080 ft) - 378 m (1,240 ft)	underground shaft, peaceful research		140 kt	Venting detected	[1][3][4][5][6]
378	28 December 1972 04:27:00.0	ALMT (6 hrs)	Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 25pp 49°44′32″N 78°06′07″E / 49.74209°N 78.10206°E	739 m (2,425 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		unknown yield		[1][3][4][5][6]

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. 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. 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 December 13, 2013.