Soviet Project K nuclear tests

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Soviet Project K nuclear tests
Information
Country Soviet Union
Test site Sary Shagan Test Range; Central Kazakhstan
Period 1961-1962
Number of tests 5
Test type High altitude rocket (30-80 km), space rocket (> 80 km)
Max. yield 300 kilotonnes of TNT (1,300 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test series 1961 Soviet nuclear tests
Next test series 1962 Soviet nuclear tests

The Soviet Union's K project nuclear test series was a group of 5 nuclear tests conducted in 1961-1962. These tests followed the 1961 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1962 Soviet nuclear tests series.

The Soviet Union test series summary table is here: Soviet Union's nuclear testing series.

The detonations in the Soviet Union's K project series are listed below:

Soviet Union's K project series tests and detonations
Name[note 1] Date time (UT) Local time zone[note 2] Location[note 3] Elevation + height[note 4] Delivery[note 5] Purpose[note 6] Device[note 7] Yield[note 8] Venting[note 9] References Notes
127 K2 October 27, 1961 ALMT
 Launched from Kapustin Yar: 1 48°28′05″N 46°16′10″E / 48.46801°N 46.2694°E / 48.46801; 46.2694 (Launch_127 K2), elv: 23 m (75 ft);
Exploded above Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan 46°24′29″N 72°14′13″E / 46.408°N 72.237°E / 46.408; 72.237 (127 K2)		 N/A + 150 kilometres (93 mi) space rocket
(> 80 km)		 weapon effect 1.2 kt [3][4][5][6][7] First Soviet space test. Unknown where K2 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point.
128 K1 October 27, 1961 ALMT
 Launched from Kapustin Yar: 3 48°28′05″N 46°16′10″E / 48.46801°N 46.2694°E / 48.46801; 46.2694 (Launch_128 K1), elv: 23 m (75 ft);
Exploded above Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan 46°42′N 69°36′E / 46.7°N 69.6°E / 46.7; 69.6 (128 K1)		 N/A + 300 kilometres (190 mi) space rocket
(> 80 km)		 weapon effect 1.2 kt [3][4][5][6][7] Unknown where K1 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point.
184 K3 October 22, 1962 03:40:45 ALMT
 Launched from Kapustin Yar: 2 48°28′05″N 46°16′10″E / 48.46801°N 46.2694°E / 48.46801; 46.2694 (Launch_184 K3), elv: 23 m (75 ft);
Exploded above Central Kazakhstan 47°46′48″N 65°19′44″E / 47.78°N 65.329°E / 47.78; 65.329 (184 K3)		 N/A + 290 kilometres (180 mi) space rocket
(> 80 km)		 weapon effect 300 kt [3][4][5][8][9][7] Exploded west of Dzhezkazgan (also called Zhezqazghan). EMP ran to thousands of amps, damaged at least 570 km of telephone lines, 1000 km of buried power lines, and started a fire that destroyed the Karaganda power plant.
187 K4 October 28, 1962 04:04:21 ALMT
 Launched from Kapustin Yar: 1 48°28′05″N 46°16′10″E / 48.46801°N 46.2694°E / 48.46801; 46.2694 (Launch_187 K4), elv: 23 m (75 ft);
Exploded above Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan 46°41′N 71°54′E / 46.69°N 71.9°E / 46.69; 71.9 (187 K4)		 N/A + 150 kilometres (93 mi) space rocket
(> 80 km)		 weapon effect 300 kt [3][4][5][8][9][7] Unknown where K4 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point.
195 K5 November 1, 1962 09:12:-- ALMT
 Launched from Kapustin Yar 48°28′05″N 46°16′10″E / 48.46801°N 46.2694°E / 48.46801; 46.2694 (Launch_195 K5), elv: 23 m (75 ft);
Exploded above Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan 46°21′N 72°50′E / 46.35°N 72.83°E / 46.35; 72.83 (195 K5)		 N/A + 59 kilometres (37 mi) high altitude rocket (30-80 km) weapon effect 300 kt [3][4][5][10][7] Unknown where K5 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point.

Electromagnetic pulse

The worst effects of a Soviet high altitude test were from the electromagnetic pulse of the nuclear test on 22 October 1962 (during the Cuban missile crisis). In that Operation K high altitude test, a 300 kiloton missile-warhead detonated west of Jezkazgan (also called Dzhezkazgan or Zhezqazghan) at an altitude of 290 km (180 mi).

The Soviet scientists instrumented a 570-kilometer (350 mi) section of telephone line in the area that they expected to be affected by the nuclear detonation in order to measure the electromagnetic pulse effects.[2] The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) fused all of the 570-kilometer monitored overhead telephone line with measured currents of 1500 to 3400 amperes during the 22 October 1962 test.[11] The monitored telephone line was divided into sub-lines of 40 to 80 kilometres (25 to 50 mi) in length, separated by repeaters. Each sub-line was protected by fuses and by gas-filled overvoltage protectors. The EMP from the 22 October (K-3) nuclear test caused all of the fuses to blow and all of the overvoltage protectors to fire in all of the sub-lines of the 570 km (350 mi) telephone line.[2] The EMP from the same test started a fire that burned down the Karaganda power plant, and shut down 1,000 km (620 mi) of shallow-buried power cables between Astana (then called Aqmola) and Almaty.[11]

The Partial Test Ban Treaty was passed the following year, ending atmospheric and exoatmospheric nuclear tests.

This map of Kazakhstan shows the missile flight path (in blue) for the K Project warhead-carrying missiles.[1] The nuclear missiles were launched from the Kapustin Yar site east of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in the upper left part of the map. The red burst in the flight path west of Zhezqazghan is the detonation location of the K-3 nuclear test (Test 184). The detonation locations for the other tests have not been publicized, but from the published detonation altitudes and basic physics, it is known that the other K Project nuclear detonation locations were along the designated flight path between the K-3 detonation site and Saryshagan (at the eastern end of the designated flight path). The instrumented telephone line damaged in the K-3 test went from Zhezqazghan through Qaraghandy (Karaganda), northward to Aqmola (now called Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan) and ended at an unknown location just north of Aqmola.[2]

Aftereffects

Although the weapons used in the K Project were much smaller (up to 300 kilotons) than the United States Starfish Prime test of 1962, the damage caused by the resulting EMP was much greater because the K Project tests were done over a large populated land mass, and at a location where the Earth's magnetic field was greater. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the level of this damage was communicated informally to scientists in the United States.[11]

After the 1991 Soviet Union collapse, there was a period of a few years of cooperation between United States and Russian scientists on the high-altitude nuclear EMP phenomenon. In addition, funding was secured to enable Russian scientists to formally report on some of the Soviet EMP results in international scientific journals.[12]  As a result, formal scientific documentation of some of the EMP damage in Kazakhstan exists[2][13] but is still sparse in the open scientific literature.

The 1998 IEEE article,[2] however, does contain a number of details about the measurements of EMP effects on the instrumented 570 km (350 mi) telephone line, including details about the fuses that were used and also about the gas-filled overvoltage protectors that were used on that communications line. According to that paper, the gas-filled overvoltage protectors fired as a result of the voltages induced by the fast E1 component of the EMP, and the fuses were blown as the result of the slow E3 component of the EMP, which caused geomagnetically induced currents in all of the sub-lines.

The Aqmola (Astana) to Almaty buried power cable was also shut down by the slow E3 component of the EMP.[11]

Published reports, including the 1998 IEEE article,[2] have stated that there were significant problems with ceramic insulators on overhead electrical power lines during the tests of the K Project. In 2010, a technical report written for a United States government laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, stated, "Power line insulators were damaged, resulting in a short circuit on the line and some lines detaching from the poles and falling to the ground."[14]

Table notes:

  1. ↑ The US, France and Great Britain 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). A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also named the individual explosions in such a test,which results in "name1 - 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then row data is intended plans.
  2. ↑ To compute local standard time "ALMT" (Alma-Ata ST) from UT, add 6 hours to the UT. If that time is 24:00 or higher, subtract 24 hours and advance the date by one day.
  3. ↑ Rough place name and a Latitude/Longitude reference; for rocket bursts, the launch location is specified before the burst 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.
  4. ↑ 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/units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero.
  5. ↑ Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, barge and cratering are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT.
  6. ↑ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  7. ↑ Designations for test items where known, nicknames for particular devices in quotes.
  8. ↑ Estimated energy yield in tonnes, kilotonnes, and megatonnes (all metric units).
  9. ↑ Emissions to atmosphere, 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 everything if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, and the maximum amount of radiation released.

References

  1. ↑ United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Environmental Policy (2000). Environmental Performance Reviews: Kazakhstan. (First Review.). p. 78. ISBN 92-1-116770-1. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Greetsai, Vasily N.; Kozlovsky, A.H.; Kuvshinnikov, V.M.; Loborev, V.M.; Parfenov, Y.V.; Tarasov, O.A.; Zdoukhov, L.N. (November 1998). "Response of Long Lines to Nuclear High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP)". IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility 40 (4): 348–354. doi:10.1109/15.736221. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 USSR Nuclear Tests, Hydronuclear Experiments, Plutonium Inventory. Sarov, Russia: RFNC-VNIIEF. 1998. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl. CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3). SMDC Monitoring Research. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Podvig, editor, Pavel (2001). Russian Strategic Forces. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved 2013-01-09. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Zaloga, Steven J. (2002). The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces, 1945-2000. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Emanuelson, Jerry. Test 184. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 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. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Haave, C. R.; Zmuda, A. J.; Shaw, B. W. (1965). "Very low-frequency phase perturbations and the Soviet high-altitude nuclear bursts of October 22 and 28, 1962". Journal of Geophysical Research 70: 4191. 
  10. ↑ Zmuda, A. J.; Haave, C. R.; Shaw, B. W. (1966). "VLF phase perturbations produced by the Soviet high-altitude nuclear explosion of November 1, 1962". Journal of Geophysical Research 71: 899+. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Seguine, Howard (17 February 1995). "US-Russian meeting – HEMP effects on national power grid & telecommunications" (TXT). memorandum for record. 
  12. ↑ Pfeffer, Robert and Shaeffer, D. Lynn. Combating WMD Journal, (2009) Issue 3. pp. 33-38. "A Russian Assessment of Several USSR and US HEMP Tests"
  13. ↑ Loborev, Vladimir M. "Up to Date State of the NEMP Problems and Topical Research Directions," Electromagnetic Environments and Consequences: Proceedings of the EUROEM 94 International Symposium, Bordeaux, France, 30 May – 3 June 1994, pp. 15–21
  14. ↑ Metatech Corporation (January 2010). The Early-Time (E1) High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and Its Impact on the U.S. Power Grid." Section 3 – E1 HEMP History. Report Meta-R-320. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 
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