Creation and testing of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. The world's first nuclear weapons test

On July 29, 1985, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev announced the decision of the USSR to unilaterally stop any nuclear explosions before January 1, 1986. We decided to talk about five famous nuclear test sites that existed in the USSR.

Semipalatinsk test site

The Semipalatinsk Test Site is one of the largest nuclear test sites in the USSR. It also came to be known as SITP. The test site is located in Kazakhstan, 130 km northwest of Semipalatinsk, on the left bank of the Irtysh River. The landfill area is 18,500 sq km. On its territory is the previously closed city of Kurchatov. The Semipalatinsk test site is famous for the fact that the first nuclear weapons test in the Soviet Union was conducted here. The test was carried out on August 29, 1949. The bomb's yield was 22 kilotons.

On August 12, 1953, the RDS-6s thermonuclear charge with a yield of 400 kilotons was tested at the test site. The charge was placed on a tower 30 m above the ground. As a result of this test, part of the test site was very heavily contaminated with radioactive products of the explosion, and a small background remains in some places to this day. On November 22, 1955, the RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb was tested over the test site. It was dropped by an airplane at an altitude of about 2 km. On October 11, 1961, the first underground nuclear explosion in the USSR was carried out at the test site. From 1949 to 1989, at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, including 125 atmospheric and 343 underground nuclear test explosions.

Nuclear tests have not been carried out at the test site since 1989.

Test site on Novaya Zemlya

The test site on Novaya Zemlya was opened in 1954. Unlike the Semipalatinsk test site, it was removed from populated areas. The nearest large settlement - the village of Amderma - was located 300 km from the test site, Arkhangelsk - more than 1000 km, Murmansk - more than 900 km.

From 1955 to 1990, 135 nuclear explosions were carried out at the test site: 87 in the atmosphere, 3 underwater and 42 underground. In 1961, the most powerful hydrogen bomb in human history, the 58-megaton Tsar Bomba, also known as Kuzka’s Mother, was exploded on Novaya Zemlya.

In August 1963, the USSR and the USA signed a treaty banning nuclear tests in three environments: in the atmosphere, outer space and under water. Limitations were also adopted on the power of the charges. Underground explosions continued to occur until 1990.

Totsky training ground

The Totsky training ground is located in the Volga-Ural Military District, 40 km east of the city of Buzuluk. In 1954, tactical military exercises under the code name “Snowball” were held here. The exercise was led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov. The purpose of the exercise was to test the capabilities of breaking through enemy defenses using nuclear weapons. Materials related to these exercises have not yet been declassified.

During an exercise on September 14, 1954, a Tu-4 bomber dropped an RDS-2 nuclear bomb with a yield of 38 kilotons of TNT from an altitude of 8 km. The explosion was carried out at an altitude of 350 m. 600 tanks, 600 armored personnel carriers and 320 aircraft were sent to attack the contaminated territory. The total number of military personnel who took part in the exercises was about 45 thousand people. As a result of the exercise, thousands of its participants received varying doses of radioactive radiation. Participants in the exercises were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which resulted in the victims being unable to tell doctors about the causes of their illnesses and receive adequate treatment.

Kapustin Yar

The Kapustin Yar training ground is located in the northwestern part of the Astrakhan region. The test site was created on May 13, 1946 to test the first Soviet ballistic missiles.

Since the 1950s, at least 11 nuclear explosions have been carried out at the Kapustin Yar test site at altitudes ranging from 300 m to 5.5 km, the total yield of which is approximately 65 atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. On January 19, 1957, a Type 215 anti-aircraft guided missile was tested at the test site. It had a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead, designed to combat the main US nuclear strike force - strategic aviation. The missile exploded at an altitude of about 10 km, hitting the target aircraft - two Il-28 bombers controlled by radio control. This was the first high air nuclear explosion in the USSR.

OPERATION "SNOWBALL" IN THE USSR.

50 years ago, the USSR carried out Operation Snowball.

September 14 marked the 50th anniversary of the tragic events at the Totsky training ground. What happened on September 14, 1954 in the Orenburg region was surrounded by a thick veil of secrecy for many years.

At 9:33 a.m., an explosion of one of the most powerful nuclear bombs of that time thundered over the steppe. Next on the offensive - past forests burning in a nuclear fire, villages razed to the ground - the "eastern" troops rushed into the attack.

The planes, striking ground targets, crossed the stem of the nuclear mushroom. 10 km from the epicenter of the explosion, in radioactive dust, among molten sand, the “Westerners” held their defense. More shells and bombs were fired that day than during the storming of Berlin.

All participants in the exercises were required to sign a non-disclosure of state and military secrets for a period of 25 years. Dying from early heart attacks, strokes and cancer, they could not even tell their attending physicians about their exposure to radiation. Few participants in the Totsk exercises managed to survive to this day. Half a century later, they told Moskovsky Komsomolets about the events of 1954 in the Orenburg steppe.

Preparing for Operation Snowball

“The entire end of summer, military trains from all over the Union were coming to the small Totskoye station. None of those arriving - not even the command of the military units - had any idea why they were here. Our train was met at each station by women and children. Handing us sour cream and eggs, women they lamented: “Dear ones, you’re probably going to China to fight,” says Vladimir Bentsianov, chairman of the Committee of Veterans of Special Risk Units.

In the early 50s, they were seriously preparing for the Third World War. After tests carried out in the USA, the USSR also decided to test a nuclear bomb in open areas. The location of the exercises - in the Orenburg steppe - was chosen due to its similarity with the Western European landscape.

“At first, combined arms exercises with a real nuclear explosion were planned to be held at the Kapustin Yar missile range, but in the spring of 1954, the Totsky range was assessed, and it was recognized as the best in terms of safety conditions,” Lieutenant General Osin recalled at one time.

Participants in the Totsky exercises tell a different story. The field where it was planned to drop a nuclear bomb was clearly visible.

“For the exercises, the strongest guys from our departments were selected. We were given personal service weapons - modernized Kalashnikov assault rifles, rapid-fire ten-round automatic rifles and R-9 radios,” recalls Nikolai Pilshchikov.

The tent camp stretches for 42 kilometers. Representatives of 212 units arrived at the exercises - 45 thousand military personnel: 39 thousand soldiers, sergeants and foremen, 6 thousand officers, generals and marshals.

Preparations for the exercise, code-named “Snowball,” lasted three months. By the end of summer, the huge Battlefield was literally dotted with tens of thousands of kilometers of trenches, trenches and anti-tank ditches. We built hundreds of pillboxes, bunkers, and dugouts.

On the eve of the exercise, officers were shown a secret film about the operation of nuclear weapons. “For this purpose, a special cinema pavilion was built, into which people were admitted only with a list and an identity card in the presence of the regiment commander and a KGB representative. Then we heard: “You have a great honor - for the first time in the world to act in real conditions of using a nuclear bomb.” It became clear , for which we covered the trenches and dugouts with logs in several layers, carefully coating the protruding wooden parts with yellow clay. “They should not have caught fire from light radiation,” recalled Ivan Putivlsky.

“Residents of the villages of Bogdanovka and Fedorovka, which were 5-6 km from the epicenter of the explosion, were asked to temporarily evacuate 50 km from the site of the exercise. They were taken out by troops in an organized manner; they were allowed to take everything with them. The evacuated residents were paid daily allowances throughout the entire period of the exercise,” - says Nikolai Pilshchikov.

“Preparations for the exercises were carried out under artillery cannonade. Hundreds of planes bombed designated areas. A month before the start, every day a Tu-4 plane dropped a “blank” - a mock-up of a bomb weighing 250 kg - into the epicenter,” recalled exercise participant Putivlsky.

According to the recollections of Lieutenant Colonel Danilenko, in an old oak grove, surrounded by mixed forest, a white limestone cross measuring 100x100 m was made. The training pilots aimed at it. The deviation from the target should not exceed 500 meters. Troops were stationed all around.

Two crews trained: Major Kutyrchev and Captain Lyasnikov. Until the very last moment, the pilots did not know who would be the main one and who would be the backup. Kutyrchev’s crew, who already had experience in flight testing an atomic bomb at the Semipalatinsk test site, had an advantage.

To prevent damage from the shock wave, troops located at a distance of 5-7.5 km from the epicenter of the explosion were ordered to remain in shelters, and further 7.5 km - in trenches in a sitting or lying position.

On one of the hills, 15 km from the planned epicenter of the explosion, a government platform was built to observe the exercises, says Ivan Putivlsky. - The day before it was painted with oil paints in green and white. Surveillance devices were installed on the podium. To the side of it from the railway station, an asphalt road was laid along the deep sands. The military traffic inspectorate did not allow any foreign vehicles onto this road."

“Three days before the start of the exercise, senior military leaders began to arrive at the field airfield in the Totsk area: Marshals of the Soviet Union Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky, Konev, Malinovsky,” recalls Pilshchikov. “Even the defense ministers of the people’s democracies, generals Marian Spychalsky, Ludwig Svoboda, Marshal Zhu-De and Peng-De-Hui. All of them were located in a government town pre-built in the area of ​​the camp. A day before the exercises, Khrushchev, Bulganin and the creator of nuclear weapons Kurchatov appeared in Totsk."

Marshal Zhukov was appointed head of the exercises. Around the epicenter of the explosion, marked with a white cross, military equipment was placed: tanks, planes, armored personnel carriers, to which “landing troops” were tied in trenches and on the ground: sheep, dogs, horses and calves.

From 8,000 meters, a Tu-4 bomber dropped a nuclear bomb on the test site

On the day of departure for the exercise, both Tu-4 crews prepared in full: nuclear bombs were suspended on each of the planes, the pilots simultaneously started the engines, and reported their readiness to complete the mission. Kutyrchev's crew received the command to take off, where Captain Kokorin was the bombardier, Romensky was the second pilot, and Babets was the navigator. The Tu-4 was accompanied by two MiG-17 fighters and an Il-28 bomber, which were supposed to conduct weather reconnaissance and filming, as well as guard the carrier in flight.

“On September 14, we were alerted at four o’clock in the morning. It was a clear and quiet morning,” says Ivan Putivlsky. “There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We were taken by car to the foot of the government podium. We sat tight in the ravine and took pictures. The first signal was through loudspeakers. government rostrum sounded 15 minutes before the nuclear explosion: “The ice has moved!” 10 minutes before the explosion we heard a second signal: “The ice is coming!” We, as we were instructed, ran out of the cars and rushed to pre-prepared shelters in the ravine on the side of the podium. We lay down on our stomachs, with our heads towards the explosion, as taught, with our eyes closed, our hands under our heads and our mouths open. The last, third signal sounded: “Lightning!” A hellish roar was heard in the distance. The clock stopped at the mark 9 hours 33 minutes."

The carrier aircraft dropped the atomic bomb from a height of 8 thousand meters on the second approach to the target. The power of the plutonium bomb, code-named “Tatyanka,” was 40 kilotons of TNT—several times more than the one that exploded over Hiroshima. According to the memoirs of Lieutenant General Osin, a similar bomb was previously tested at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1951. Totskaya "Tatyanka" exploded at an altitude of 350 m from the ground. The deviation from the intended epicenter was 280 m in the northwest direction.

At the last moment, the wind changed: it carried the radioactive cloud not to the deserted steppe, as expected, but straight to Orenburg and further, towards Krasnoyarsk.

5 minutes after the nuclear explosion, artillery preparation began, then a bomber strike was carried out. Guns and mortars of various calibers, Katyusha rockets, self-propelled artillery units, and tanks buried in the ground began to speak. The battalion commander told us later that the density of fire per kilometer of area was greater than during the capture of Berlin, recalls Casanov.

“During the explosion, despite the closed trenches and dugouts where we were, a bright light penetrated there; after a few seconds we heard a sound in the form of a sharp lightning discharge,” says Nikolai Pilshchikov. “After 3 hours, an attack signal was received. The planes, striking strike on ground targets 21-22 minutes after the nuclear explosion, crossed the stem of a nuclear mushroom - the trunk of a radioactive cloud. I and my battalion in an armored personnel carrier followed 600 m from the epicenter of the explosion at a speed of 16-18 km/h. I saw it burned from root to top forest, crumpled columns of equipment, burnt animals." At the very epicenter - within a radius of 300 m - there was not a single hundred-year-old oak tree left, everything was burned... The equipment a kilometer from the explosion was pressed into the ground...

“We crossed the valley, one and a half kilometers from which the epicenter of the explosion was located, wearing gas masks,” recalls Casanov. “Out of the corner of our eyes we managed to notice how piston aircraft, cars and staff vehicles were burning, the remains of cows and sheep were lying everywhere. The ground resembled slag and some kind of monstrous whipped consistency.

The area after the explosion was difficult to recognize: the grass was smoking, scorched quails were running, bushes and copses had disappeared. Bare, smoking hills surrounded me. There was a solid black wall of smoke and dust, stench and burning. My throat was dry and sore, there was a ringing and noise in my ears... The Major General ordered me to measure the radiation level at the burning fire nearby with a dosimetric device. I ran up, opened the damper on the bottom of the device, and... the arrow went off scale. “Get in the car!” the general commanded, and we drove away from this place, which turned out to be close to the immediate epicenter of the explosion...”

Two days later - on September 17, 1954 - a TASS message was published in the Pravda newspaper: “In accordance with the plan of research and experimental work, in recent days a test of one of the types of atomic weapons was carried out in the Soviet Union. The purpose of the test was to study the effect atomic explosion. The tests obtained valuable results that will help Soviet scientists and engineers successfully solve problems of protection against atomic attack."

The troops completed their task: the country's nuclear shield was created.

Residents of the surrounding two-thirds of the burned villages dragged the new houses built for them log by log to the old - inhabited and already contaminated - places, collected radioactive grain in the fields, potatoes baked in the ground... And for a long time the old-timers of Bogdanovka, Fedorovka and the village of Sorochinskoye remembered strange glow from the wood. The woodpiles, made from trees charred in the area of ​​the explosion, glowed in the darkness with a greenish fire.

Mice, rats, rabbits, sheep, cows, horses and even insects that visited the “zone” were subjected to close examination... “After the exercises, we only went through radiation control,” recalls Nikolai Pilshchikov. “The experts paid much more attention to what was given to us in "the day of training with dry rations, wrapped in an almost two-centimeter layer of rubber... He was immediately taken away for examination. The next day, all soldiers and officers were transferred to a regular diet. The delicacies disappeared."

They were returning from the Totsky training ground, according to the memoirs of Stanislav Ivanovich Casanov, they were not in the freight train in which they arrived, but in a normal passenger carriage. Moreover, the train was allowed through without the slightest delay. Stations flew past: an empty platform, on which a lonely stationmaster stood and saluted. The reason was simple. On the same train, in a special carriage, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was returning from training.

“In Moscow, at the Kazansky station, the marshal had a magnificent welcome,” recalls Kazanov. “Our cadets of the sergeant school received neither insignia, nor special certificates, nor awards... We also did not receive the gratitude that Minister of Defense Bulganin announced to us anywhere later. ".

The pilots who dropped a nuclear bomb were awarded a Pobeda car for successfully completing this task. At the debriefing of the exercises, crew commander Vasily Kutyrchev received the Order of Lenin and, ahead of schedule, the rank of colonel from the hands of Bulganin.

The results of combined arms exercises using nuclear weapons were classified as “top secret.”

Participants in the Totsk exercises were not given any documents; they appeared only in 1990, when they were equal in rights to Chernobyl survivors.

Of the 45 thousand military personnel who took part in the Totsk exercises, a little more than 2 thousand are now alive. Half of them are officially recognized as disabled people of the first and second groups, 74.5% have diseases of the cardiovascular system, including hypertension and cerebral atherosclerosis, another 20.5% have diseases of the digestive system, 4.5% have malignant neoplasms and blood diseases.

Ten years ago in Totsk - at the epicenter of the explosion - a memorial sign was erected: a stele with bells. Every September 14, they will ring in memory of all those affected by radiation at the Totsky, Semipalatinsk, Novozemelsky, Kapustin-Yarsky and Ladoga test sites.
Rest, O Lord, the souls of your departed servants...

But we have already begun to forget about the nuclear bacchanalia that was staged at the turn of the 1950s-1960s by two superpowers - the USSR and the USA. Then, while improving their weapons systems, the main opponents in the global confrontation exploded nuclear and thermonuclear devices almost every day. Moreover, these tests were carried out in all natural spheres: in the atmosphere, underground, under water and even in space. It was possible to put an end to this madness only in 1963, when the USSR, USA and Great Britain signed a treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons in three environments (in the atmosphere, under water and in outer space).

But by that time, humanity had managed to “do a lot of things”...

OPERATION ARGUS

The beginning of the use of outer space as a nuclear testing site dates back to the summer of 1958, when preparations for Operation Argus began in an atmosphere of heightened secrecy in the United States. The Americans christened it in honor of the all-seeing, hundred-eyed god from Ancient Greece. To some, this analogy seemed appropriate, although it is very problematic to see any connection between the ancient Greek deity and the essence of the experiment being carried out.

The main goal of Operation Argus was to study the influence of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion produced in outer space on terrestrial radars, communication systems and electronic equipment of satellites and ballistic missiles. At least that's what the US military now claims. But these were rather incidental experiments. And the main task was to test nuclear charges. In addition, it was planned to study the interaction of radioactive isotopes of plutonium released during the explosion with the Earth's magnetic field.

The starting point for the experiment, as it is customary to write about it today, was a rather eccentric, at that time, theory put forward by an employee of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Nicholas Christofilos. He suggested that the greatest military effect from nuclear explosions in space could be achieved by creating artificial Earth radiation belts similar to natural radiation belts (Van Allen belts).

In order not to return to this issue, I will immediately say that the experiment confirmed the theory put forward and artificial belts actually appeared after explosions. They were discovered by instruments of the American research satellite Explorer 4, which later allowed us to talk about Operation Argus as the largest scientific experiment ever conducted in the world.

The southern part of the Atlantic Ocean between 35° and 55° S was chosen as the location for the operation, which was determined by the configuration of the magnetic field, which in this area is closest to the Earth’s surface and which could play the role of a kind of trap, capturing charged particles, formed by the explosion, and holding them in the field. And the flight altitude of the missiles made it possible to deliver nuclear weapons only to this area of ​​the magnetic field.

To carry out explosions in space, nuclear charges of the W-25 type with a power of 1.7 kilotons, developed for the unguided Jin air-to-air rocket, were used. The weight of the charge itself was 98.9 kilograms. Structurally, it was made in the form of a streamlined cylinder with a length of 65.5 centimeters and a diameter of 44.2 centimeters. Before Operation Argus, the W-25 charge was tested three times and demonstrated its reliability. In addition, in all three tests the explosion power corresponded to the nominal one, which was important when conducting the experiment.

A modified X-17A ballistic missile developed by Lockheed was used as a means of delivering a nuclear charge. Its length with a combat charge was 13 meters, diameter - 2.1 meters.

To conduct the experiment, a flotilla of nine ships of the US 2nd Fleet was formed, operating under the designation of the top secret Task Force No. 88. The launches were carried out from the lead ship of the flotilla, Norton Sound.

The first test was carried out on August 27, 1958. The exact time of the rocket launch, as during the two subsequent experiments, is unknown. But, taking into account the speed and altitude of the rocket, we can roughly assume that the launch took place in the interval from 5 to 10 minutes before the known explosion time. The first nuclear explosion in space “thundered” at 02:28 GMT that day at an altitude of 161 kilometers above a point on the earth’s surface with coordinates 38.5° S. and 11.5° W, 1800 kilometers southwest of the South African port of Cape Town.

Three days later, on August 30, at 03:18 GMT, a second nuclear explosion was carried out at an altitude of 292 kilometers above a point on the earth's surface with coordinates 49.5° S. and 8.2°W

The last, third explosion within the framework of Operation Argus, “thundered” on September 6 at 22:13 GMT at an altitude of 750 kilometers (according to other sources - 467 kilometers) above a point on the earth’s surface 48.5° S. and 9.7°W This is the highest-altitude cosmic nuclear explosion in the entire short history of such experiments.

An important detail that is not remembered so often. All explosions within the framework of Operation Argus were only part of the experiments being carried out. They were accompanied by numerous launches of geophysical rockets with measuring equipment, which were carried out by American scientists from various parts of the globe immediately before the explosions and some time after them.

Thus, on August 27, four missiles were launched [Jason missile No. 1909 from Cape Canaveral in Florida; two Jason missiles No. 1914 and 1917 from Ramay Air Force Base in Puerto Rico; Jason rocket No. 1913 from the Wallops test site in Virginia]. And on August 30-31, nine missiles were launched from the same launch positions. True, the explosion on January 6 was not accompanied by launches, but observations of the ionosphere were carried out using weather balloons.

Coincidentally, Soviet specialists managed to obtain information about the first of the American space explosions. On the day of the test, August 27, three geophysical missiles were launched from the Kapustin Yar test site: one R-2A and two R-5A. Measuring equipment installed on the rockets managed to detect anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field. True, what caused these anomalies became known a little later.

The preparation and conduct of Operation Argus was surrounded by a dense veil of secrecy. However, the secret could not be kept for long. Just six months later, on March 19, 1959, the New York Times published an article detailing what the American military was doing in the South Atlantic. The latter had no choice but to reluctantly admit the fact of nuclear testing in space and announce the results of the measurements. However, not all details of the experiment have yet become available to the general public. On the one hand, this is explained by the fact that too much time has passed for the events described to lay claim to sensationalism. On the other hand, at present the issue of conducting nuclear explosions in space is not as relevant as it was forty years ago, and therefore they are less interested in it than in “modern nuclear problems.”

OPERATION “K”

The moratorium on nuclear testing, which was in force from 1958 to 1961, did not allow the Soviet side to immediately respond to Operation Argus. But soon after it was interrupted, the Soviet Union conducted similar experiments. Tests of domestic nuclear devices in space took place as part of Operation K. Their preparation and implementation was carried out by the State Commission chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Colonel General Alexander Vasilyevich Gerasimov. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Alexander Nikolaevich Shchukin was appointed scientific director of the experiments, and his deputy was the deputy head of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Konstantin Aleksandrovich Trusov. The main task during Operation “K” was to test the influence of high-altitude and space nuclear explosions on the operation of radio-electronic means of missile attack detection and missile defense systems (system “A”).

The first experiments, designated “K-1” and “K-2”, were carried out over just one day - October 27, 1961. Both 1.2 kt munitions were delivered to the explosion sites (above the center of the experimental system “A” at the Sary-Shagan test site) by R-12 (8K63) ballistic missiles launched from the Kapustin Yar test site. The first explosion was carried out at an altitude of about 300 kilometers, and the second at an altitude of about 150 kilometers.

The cardinal difference between Soviet experiments and American nuclear explosions in space is that they had a clear functional focus - testing the operation of the missile defense system. In this regard, the testing algorithm was different than in the framework of Operation Argus, where the explosion was the main focus, and not the performance of other types of equipment.

As the chief designer of the “A” system, Grigory Vasilyevich Kisunko, later said in his book “The Secret Zone,” “the plan for each of the tests of the “K” series provided for the sequential launch of two R-12 missiles. The first carried a nuclear charge, the second was equipped with equipment for recording the damaging effects of a nuclear explosion. In the conditions of a real nuclear explosion, the second missile was intercepted by the B-1000 anti-missile system “A”, equipped with a telemetric (without warhead) warhead.”

Operation K was continued exactly a year later - in October 1962. Then three explosions were carried out, but one of them belongs to the high-altitude category, since it was carried out at an altitude of 80 kilometers, so I will not say anything about it, but will only talk about those that are referred to in the literature under the indices “K-3” and "K-4".

On the morning of October 22, an R-12 ballistic missile was launched from the launch site of the Kapustin Yar test site, the head of which contained a nuclear charge with a power of 300 kt. As you can see, the power of this device was significantly greater than what the Americans used in Operation Argus or during the launches of K-1 and K-2, but less than during the American test in the summer of 1962, which I will talk about write later. After 11 minutes, the artificial Sun lit up at an altitude of about 300 kilometers.

During the test, several problems were solved at once. Firstly, this was another test of the reliability of the nuclear charge carrier - the R-12 ballistic missile. Secondly, check the operation of the charge itself. Thirdly, elucidation of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion and its impact on various types of military equipment, including missiles and military satellites. Fourthly, the basic principles of the Taran missile defense system proposed by Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey, which provided for the defeat of enemy missiles with a series of nuclear explosions in their path, had to be tested.
And the timing of the K-3 test was not chosen by chance. Two days before the explosion, an artificial Earth satellite of the DS-A1 type (open name “Cosmos-11”) was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site, designed to study radiation arising from nuclear explosions at high altitudes, in a wide range of energies and efficiencies, and develop methods and means for detecting high-altitude nuclear explosions and obtaining other data. The information that Soviet scientists were going to obtain and received from this satellite turned out to be extremely valuable for the development of next-generation weapons systems.

In addition, this explosion in space could also be considered as a demonstration of Soviet power in the conditions of the “Carribean crisis” that was raging in those days. In fact, it was a very risky undertaking with difficult to predict consequences. The military leadership of the USSR and the USA had their nerves on edge, and any insufficiently thought-out decision, especially the manifestation of military activity, could be misinterpreted and end in a worldwide cataclysm. Luckily for us, everything ended well.

The K-3 experiment program was significantly broader than the tests conducted the year before. In addition to two R-12 ballistic missiles and anti-missile missiles from the Sary-Shagan test site, it was planned to use a number of geophysical and meteorological missiles, as well as the R-9 (8K75) intercontinental ballistic missile, which was to be launched from the 13th launcher of the Tyura-Tam test site in within the framework of the 2nd stage of flight design tests. The head of this missile had to pass as close as possible to the epicenter of the explosion. At the same time, it was planned to study the reliability of radio communications of the radio control system equipment, evaluate the accuracy of measuring movement parameters and determine the effect of a nuclear explosion on the level of received signals at the input of on-board and ground receiving devices of the radio control system.

However, the launch of the R-9 that day ended in failure. 2.4 seconds after launch, the 1st combustion chamber of the 1st stage collapsed, and the rocket fell 20 meters from the launch pad, seriously damaging it.

The fourth nuclear explosion as part of Operation K was carried out on October 28, 1962. According to the scenario, this experiment coincided with the previous one, with the difference that the “nine” was supposed to launch from an experimental ground launcher No. 5. The launch of the R-12 with a nuclear warhead took place at 04:30 GMT from the Kapustin Yar test site. And 11 minutes later, at an altitude of 150 kilometers, a nuclear device was detonated. System “A” worked without any problems.

But the launch of the R-9 from the Tyura-Tam test site again ended in an accident. The rocket took off from the launch pad at 04:37:17 GMT, but managed to rise to a height of only 20 meters when the 2nd combustion chamber of the 1st stage propulsion system failed. The rocket settled and fell onto the launcher, a column of flame shooting high into the sky. Thus, in just six days, two R-9 launchers were seriously damaged. They were not used in any further testing.

The explosion on October 28 ends not only the history of Soviet nuclear tests in space, but also the era of using near-Earth space as a testing ground for these deadly weapons.

TWO MORE EXPLOSIONS IN SPACE

And at the end of the story, I’ll tell you about two more American nuclear experiments in space. The dates of their implementation lie in the interval between the first and second phases of Operation “K”, so we have to talk about them separately.

One of these tests took place in the summer of 1962. As part of Operation Fishbowl, it was planned to detonate a W-49 nuclear charge with a power of 1.4 Mt at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. This experiment was carried out by the American military under the code name “Starfish”.

The first pancake that time turned out to be lumpy. The launch of the Thor ballistic missile (serial number 193) that took place on June 20 from the LE1 site of Johnson Atoll in the Pacific Ocean was an emergency - the rocket engine was turned off at the 59th second of the flight. The officer in charge of flight safety sent a command on board six seconds later, which activated the elimination mechanism. At an altitude of 10-11 kilometers the rocket was exploded. The explosive charge destroyed the warhead without triggering the nuclear device. Some of the debris fell back onto Johnston Atoll, the other part onto nearby Sand Atoll. The accident led to slight radioactive contamination of the area.

The experiment was repeated on July 9 of the same year. The Thor rocket with serial number 195 was used. This time everything went well. The explosion looked simply amazing - the nuclear glow was visible on Wake Island at a distance of 2200 kilometers, on Kwajalein Atoll (2600 kilometers) and even in New Zealand, 7000 kilometers south of Johnston!

Unlike the 1958 tests, when the first nuclear explosions occurred in space, the Starfish test quickly gained publicity and was accompanied by a noisy political campaign. The explosion was observed by US and USSR space assets. For example, the Soviet satellite Cosmos-5, located 1200 kilometers below the explosion horizon, recorded an instantaneous increase in the intensity of gamma radiation by several orders of magnitude, followed by a decrease by two orders of magnitude in 100 seconds. After the explosion, a vast and powerful radiation belt emerged in the Earth's magnetosphere. At least three satellites entering it were damaged due to the rapid degradation of solar panels. The presence of this belt had to be taken into account when planning the flights of the manned spacecraft Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 in August 1962 and Mercury-8 in October of the same year. The effects of magnetospheric pollution have been visible for several years.

And finally, the last nuclear explosion in space took place on October 20, 1962. In the documents of the US Department of Defense, this test took place under the code name “Chickmate”. The explosion occurred at an altitude of 147 kilometers above the Earth's surface, 69 kilometers from Johnson Atoll. The XW-50X1 nuclear warhead was delivered to the detonation site by an XM-33 “Scab” aircraft missile fired from a B-52 “Stratofortress” bomber. Data on the power of the explosion vary. Some sources call the figure less than 20 kt, while others - 60 kt. But what interests us in this case is not this figure, but the location of the test. And this was space.

So, let's take a brief summary of nuclear testing in space. A total of nine explosions were carried out: the Americans detonated five nuclear charges, the Soviet Union - four charges. Other nuclear powers, fortunately for us, did not support the nuclear race that had begun in space. And in the future, let's hope this doesn't happen.

sources
List of used literature:

1. Agapov V.M. To the launch of the first satellite of the DS series // Cosmonautics News, 1997. No. 6.
2. Afanasyev I.B. R-12 “Sandalwood”. // Supplement to M-Hobby magazine. - M.: ExPrint NV, 1997.
3. Zheleznyakov A.B. Secrets of rocket disasters: Payment for a breakthrough into space. - M.: Eksmo-Yauza, 2004.
4. Zheleznyakov A., Rosenblum L. Nuclear explosions in space. // Cosmonautics News, 2002, No. 9.
5. Kisunko G.V. Secret zone: Confession of the general designer. - M.: Sovremennik, 1996.
6. Pervov M.A. Missile weapons of the Strategic Missile Forces. - M.: Violanta, 1999.
7. Rockets and spacecraft of the Yuzhnoye design bureau // Comp. A.N. Mashchenko and others, under the general direction. ed. S.N. Konyukhova. - Dnepropetrovsk, ColorGraph LLC, RA Tandem-U LLC, 2001.
8. Temny V.V. The history of the discovery of the Earth's radiation belts: who, when and how? // Earth and the Universe. 1993. No. 5.
9. Chertok B.E. Rockets and people. Fili-Podlipki-Tyuratam. - M.: Mechanical Engineering, 1996.
10. Nuclear tests of the USSR / Col. authors ed. V.N. Mikhailova. - M.: Publishing House, 1997.
11. Nuclear archipelago / Comp. B.I. Ogorodnikov. - M.: Publishing House, 1995.

("Atomic Strategy", June 2005).

Conducting nuclear tests in the USSR
05.08.2009 15:41:26

The first nuclear explosion of the USSR was carried out on August 29, 1949, and the last nuclear explosion was carried out on October 24, 1990. The USSR's nuclear testing program lasted 41 years, 1 month, 26 days between these dates. During this time, 715 nuclear explosions were carried out, both for peaceful purposes and for combat purposes.

The first nuclear explosion was carried out at the Semipalatinsk Test Site (SIP), and the last nuclear explosion of the USSR was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya Northern Test Site (SNPT).

To test nuclear weapons in the interests of the navy of the Soviet Union, the government decided to build a test site on Novaya Zemlya. On July 31, 1954, Council of Ministers resolution No. 1559-699 was issued on the creation of such a test site on Novaya Zemlya. The newly organized construction was named “Spetsstroy-700”. During the year, object 700 was subordinate to the commander of the White Sea Flotilla. Then, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy No. 00451 of August 12, 1955, this object was removed from the subordination of the flotilla and subordinated to the head of the 6th Directorate of the Navy.

The first nuclear explosion at the Novaya Zemlya test site was carried out on the morning of September 21, 1955 in Chernaya Bay. This was the first Soviet underwater nuclear explosion. By this time, the United States had already carried out two underwater nuclear explosions in the Pacific Ocean - in July 1946 and in May 1955. In addition, the United States carried out 44 explosions in the air, 18 on the ground and 2 underground. In October 1952, Great Britain carried out a surface explosion on the island of Monte Bello, and 21 nuclear devices were tested at the Semipalatinsk test site.

To carry out an underwater explosion, the warhead of the T-5 nuclear torpedo with a power of 3.5 kt was lowered from a specially converted Project 253-L minesweeper to a depth of 12 m. Naturally, after the explosion, the minesweeper was blown to smithereens.

The destroyer "Reut" stood about three hundred meters from the epicenter. He landed on the edge of the plume, jumped up and immediately sank to the bottom. On the other hand, further away, stood the Kuibyshev, which remained afloat, having escaped with serious damage.”

On October 10, 1957, a repeat firing of a T-5 torpedo with a nuclear warhead was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya test site in Chernaya Guba. At 10 o'clock the Project 613 submarine S-144, which was at periscope depth, fired a T-5 torpedo. The torpedo traveled at a speed of 40 knots, the explosion occurred at a depth of 35 m. Thanks to improvements in the charge, the power was slightly higher than when tested in 1955.

After the explosion (but not immediately), the destroyers “Infuriated” and “Grozny”, the submarines S-20 and S-19, and two minesweepers sank. A number of ships, including the destroyer Gremyashchiy, the submarine K-56 and others, were damaged. The T-5 torpedo was put into service and became the first shipborne nuclear weapon of the Soviet fleet.

On October 20, 1961, during an exercise, an R-13 ballistic missile with a nuclear charge was launched from a Project 629 diesel submarine. The explosion was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya test site. Immediately after this explosion, Exercise Coral began, during which nuclear warheads of various torpedoes were exploded. The diesel submarine of Project 641 fired (commander captain 1st rank N.A. Shumnov).
In the early 1960s. On Novaya Zemlya, a number of super-powerful thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs with a yield of up to 50 Mgt were dropped from Tu-95 strategic bombers. The creation of a 100 Mgt bomb has also become a reality.
Already after the first nuclear explosions, it became clear that nuclear weapons are most effective against large cities (remember Hiroshima), but their effect on ships or ground forces is tens of times less effective. We already know about the effect of nuclear bombs on ships, but as for ground forces, the explosion of a 20 kt nuclear bomb, as in Hiroshima, could disable on average a motorized rifle or tank battalion.
Firing at ships at sea with long-range ballistic or cruise missiles without a homing system, even with astro correction, is not effective at all, since the tabulated circular probable deviation (CPD) of such missiles in the 1950s - 1960s. was about 4 km, but in fact it was 6 - 8 km.
It should be noted that military personnel, even those who received lethal doses of radiation, were able to carry out assigned combat missions for several hours or even days.

Training at the Totsky training ground.

In total, the Soviet Army, it can be considered, conducted two military exercises using nuclear weapons: on September 14, 1954 - at the Totsk artillery range in the Orenburg region and on September 10, 1956 - a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site with the participation of military units.

Eight similar exercises were conducted in the United States.

TASS message:
"In accordance with the plan of research and experimental work, in recent days a test of one of the types of atomic weapons was carried out in the Soviet Union. The purpose of the test was to study the effect of an atomic explosion. During the test, valuable results were obtained that will help Soviet scientists and engineers successfully solve problems on protection against atomic attack"

The military exercise with the use of atomic weapons on September 14, 1954 took place after the USSR government made a decision to begin training the country’s Armed Forces for actions in the conditions of the actual use of nuclear weapons by a potential enemy. Making such a decision had its own history.

The first development of proposals on this issue at the level of the country's leading ministries dates back to the end of 1949. This was due not only to the successful first nuclear tests in the former Soviet Union, but also to the influence of the American media, which fed our foreign intelligence with information that the Armed Forces The US Forces and Civil Defense are actively preparing to deal with the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict. The initiator of the preparation of proposals to conduct an exercise with the use of nuclear weapons was the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (at that time the Ministry of the Armed Forces) in agreement with the ministries of atomic energy (at that time the first main directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR), healthcare, chemical and radio engineering industries of the USSR. The direct developer of the first proposals was a special department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (V.A. Bolyatko, A.A. Osin, E.F. Lozovoy). The development of proposals was led by the Deputy Minister of Defense for Armaments, Marshal of Artillery N.D. Yakovlev.

The first submission of the proposal for the exercise was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky, B.L. Vannikov, E.I. Smirnov, P.M. Kruglov, other responsible persons and sent to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N.A. Bulganin. Over four years (1949-1953), more than twenty ideas were developed, which were sent mainly to N.A. Bulganin, as well as L.M. Kaganovich, L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov and V.M. Molotov.

On September 29, 1953, a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which marked the beginning of the preparation of the Armed Forces and the country for actions in special conditions. At the same time, on the recommendation of V.A. Bolyatko, N.A. Bulganin approved for publication a list of guidance documents previously developed by the 6th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, in particular the Handbook on Nuclear Weapons, a manual for officers “Combat Properties of Nuclear Weapons”, Manual on conducting operations and combat operations in the context of the use of nuclear weapons, Manual on Anti-Nuclear Defense, Guide to the Protection of Cities. Medical Support Guide, Radiation Survey Guide. Guide to decontamination and sanitization and Memo to soldiers, sailors and the public on protection against atomic weapons. On the personal instructions of N. Bulganin, within a month, all these documents were published by Military Publishing House and delivered to groups of forces, military districts, air defense districts and fleets. At the same time, a screening of special films on nuclear weapons testing was organized for the leadership of the army and navy.

The practical testing of new views on warfare began with the Totsky military exercises using a real atomic bomb created by scientists and designers of KB-11 (Arzamas-16).

In 1954, US strategic aviation was armed with more than 700 atomic bombs. The United States conducted 45 nuclear tests, including 2 nuclear bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Surveys of the use of atomic weapons and protection against them have been widely tested not only at test sites, but also in military exercises of the US Army.

By this time, only 8 tests of atomic weapons had been carried out in the USSR. The results of the atomic bombing by US aircraft of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were studied. The nature and scale of the destructive effect of this formidable weapon were quite well known. This made it possible to develop the first instructions on the conduct of combat operations in conditions of the use of atomic weapons and methods of protecting troops from the damaging effects of atomic explosions. From the point of view of modern ideas, the recommendations contained in them are largely true today.

To conduct the exercises, consolidated military units and formations were formed, collected from all regions of the country from all branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces, intended to subsequently pass on the experience gained to those who did not take part in these exercises.

To ensure safety in the event of an atomic explosion, a plan for ensuring safety in the event of an atomic explosion, instructions for ensuring the safety of troops during corps exercises, a memo to soldiers and sergeants on safety during exercises, and a memo to the local population were developed.

The main measures to ensure safety in the event of an atomic explosion were developed based on the expected consequences of an atomic bomb explosion at an altitude of 350 m above the ground (air explosion) in the area of ​​195.1. In addition, special measures were envisaged to protect troops and the population from damage by radioactive substances in the event that an explosion occurs with large deviations from the specified conditions in range and altitude. All troop personnel were provided with gas masks, protective paper capes, protective stockings and gloves.

To prevent damage from the shock wave, the troops located closest (at a distance of 5-7.5 km) had to be in shelters, then 7.5 km - in open and covered trenches, in a sitting or lying position. Ensuring the safety of troops from damage by penetrating radiation was entrusted to the chemical troops. The standards for permissible contamination of personnel and military equipment were reduced by four times compared to the then acceptable levels in the troops.

To carry out measures to ensure the safety of the population, the training area within a radius of up to 50 km from the explosion site was divided into five zones: zone 1 (prohibited zone) - up to 8 km from the center of the explosion; zone 2 - from 8 to 12 km; zone 3 - from 12 to 15 km; zone 4 - from 15 to 50 km (in the sector 300-0-110 degrees) and zone 5, located north of the target along the combat course of the carrier aircraft in a strip 10 km wide and 20 km deep, over which the carrier aircraft flew with an open bomb bay.

A military exercise on the topic “Breakthrough the enemy’s prepared tactical defense using atomic weapons” was scheduled for the fall of 1954. The exercise used a 40 kt atomic bomb, tested at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1951. The leadership of the exercise was entrusted to Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov (at that time Deputy Minister of Defense). The leadership of the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR, headed by V.A., took an active part in the preparation and during the exercise. Malyshev, as well as leading scientists - creators of nuclear weapons I.V. Kurchatov, K.I. Click et al.

The main task in the preparatory period was the combat coordination of troops and headquarters, as well as individual training of specialists in the branches of the military for action in conditions of the actual use of atomic weapons. The training of troops involved in the exercise was carried out according to special programs designed for 45 days. The teaching itself lasted one day. Various types of training and special activities were organized in areas similar to the training area. In all, without exception, the recollections of the participants in the exercise, intensive combat training, training in protective equipment, engineering equipment of the area are noted - in general, difficult army work, in which both the soldier and the marshal participated

ORDER
September 9, 1954 Totskoye camp
On ensuring security during corps exercises
In order to ensure the safety of military personnel during the September 14 this year. corps teaching

I ORDER:

1. During the period of an atomic explosion, responsibility for the safety of military personnel shall be assigned to:

A) for the deputy head of the exercise on special issues - in the town of Medvezhya and in area No. 2 - Pronkiio, (claim) Pavlovka, height 238.6 m, elevation. 140.9 m, south. edge of the grove, (law) MTS, Makhovka;

B) to the commander of 128sk in the initial position of the corps (area No. 2) within the boundaries: from the north and south - the demarcation lines of 128sk; from the east - along the Mal. Uran River; from the west along the Makhovka River;

C) to the deputy chief of staff of the leadership for organizational issues - in the town of Petrovskaya Shishka, "Zapyataya" and in the town of the leadership headquarters of "Roshcha".

2. In the remaining territory of the exercise, security measures should be organized by order of the commander of the Southern Urals Military District.

3. Direct responsibility for compliance with security measures by troop personnel should be assigned to the commanders of units, units and formations.

4. To monitor the safety of the troops and their compliance with security measures, the districts are divided into sections and the commandants of the sections are appointed, who are given personal responsibility for the observance of all security measures by all military personnel and employees.
Station commanders must know exactly who and where will be in their area on the day of the exercise.

5. Commanders of formations and individual units should take into account all personnel and equipment that will be separated from their units and units during an atomic explosion. Bring single military personnel into teams, appoint senior officers and prepare shelters for them. The commanders of formations and individual units should be informed in writing to the district commanders by 18.00 on 11.9 about the composition and location of these teams.
District heads should check these teams, the availability of shelters for them and organize notification of them about the atomic alarm.

6. On the day of the exercise, from 5.00 to 9.00, the movement of single persons and vehicles is prohibited in the specified areas. Movement is permitted only in teams with responsible officers. From 9.00 to 10.00 all movement is prohibited.

7. Responsibility for organizing and implementing security measures should be assigned: when conducting live artillery firing - to the deputy head of the artillery exercise, when conducting live bombing - to the deputy head of the aviation exercise, when conducting a simulation - to the deputy exercise leader for engineering troops.

8. The areas of Lysaya (northern) and Kalanchevaya, where live bombing is carried out, are to be declared prohibited zones for the entire period of the exercise, fenced with wire and red flags. At the end of the bombing, by order of the deputy head of the exercise for engineering troops, set up a cordon.

9. Transmit warning signals from the management control point via radio warning networks at frequencies of 2500, 2875 and 36,500 kHz. At all command posts, outposts and control points up to and including the battalion (division), as well as in camp assembly units, have duty radios (radio stations) operating on one of these frequencies.
Commanders of formations and units should select for this purpose the best radio operators with fully operational radio receivers (radio stations) and personally check their readiness for work.
Training of personnel in working in radio networks should be carried out according to the schedule approved by my deputy for the communications troops.

10. In the period from 6.00 to 8.00 on September 12, by order of the commander of 128sk, conduct training of troops and headquarters in actions on atomic and chemical alarm signals.

11. The withdrawal of troops outside the restricted zones should be completed by the end of September 9 and reported to me in writing. All prepared shelters and shelters, as well as the readiness of communication means to receive and transmit signals, are checked by special commissions and the results of the check are formalized in acts.

12. For other issues of troop safety, strictly follow the “Instructions for ensuring the safety of troops during corps exercises in the area of ​​the Totsk camps.”

13. The order should be conveyed to all commanders of formations and units.

14. Report the implementation of this order to the leadership headquarters by 19.00 on 09/11/54.

Exercise leader Marshal of the Soviet Union

G. K. ZHUKOV

Historical reference. The Totsky training ground is a military training ground in the South Ural Military District, 40 km east of the city of Buzuluk, north of the village of Totskoye (Orinurg region). Landfill area 45,700 hectares

The training ground became famous thanks to the tactical military exercises codenamed “Snowball” held on its territory on September 14, 1964. The essence of the exercise was to test the capabilities of breaking through enemy defenses using nuclear weapons. Materials related to these exercises have not yet been declassified, so the authenticity and interpretation of events cannot be fully verified.

During the exercise, the bomber dropped a nuclear bomb with a TNT equivalent of 40 kilotons from an altitude of 13 kilometers, and at 9 hours 53 minutes an air explosion was carried out at an altitude of 350 meters. Two simulators of nuclear charges were also blown up. 3 hours after the explosion, Zhukov sent 600 tanks, 600 armored personnel carriers and 320 aircraft to attack the epicenter of the explosion.

The total number of military personnel who took part in the exercises was about 45 thousand people (according to other sources, 45 thousand were only the forces of the “attacking” side, to which another 15 thousand should be added from the “defending” side). The task of the “attacking” side was to take advantage of the gap in the defense created after the explosion; The task of the “defenders” is to eliminate this gap.

What nuclear war brought to humanity can be judged by the story of the “Atomic Soldier” - T. Shevchenko, a retired colonel, participant in the exercises at the Totsky training ground

“In the life of every person, an event occurs that, in the full sense of the word, turns his destiny around and marks a new starting point. For me, such an event was an arch-secret secondment to a nuclear test site. I was silent about it, as well as about the diabolical experiments that were carried out there, about the serious consequences for the health of their participants for almost 50 years, although the receipt that I officially gave obligated me, like other participants in the tests of the “product” (the first Soviet atomic bombs ), forget about the training ground “just” for a quarter of a century.

My first acquaintance with the atomic monster happened a long time ago, almost half a century ago. This was the time of my formation as an officer and the first serious test of spiritual and physical strength on an unknown, but voluntarily chosen path of difficult, but seemingly so prestigious and romantic service.

Quite a lot has been written on the atomic topic. The infamous military exercises, as close as possible to combat operations, with the real use of nuclear weapons at the Totsky test site (near the village of Totskoye, Orenburg region, Russian Federation) are described in detail.

44 thousand military personnel took part in those exercises (their code name “Snowball”), of which less than one thousand remained alive on the first day of the third millennium. The exercise was commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov.

On September 14, 1954, at 9:32 a.m. local time, an atomic bomb with a capacity of 40 kilotons was dropped onto the “den of the enemy” from a TU-4 aircraft from an altitude of 8 thousand meters, which exploded over the test site at an altitude of 300 meters.

REFERENCE. The power of the atomic bomb "Little Boy", dropped from an American military aircraft on Hiroshima, is 16 kilotons, and the "Fat Man", dropped on Nagasaki, is 21 kilotons. The explosion of the American atomic bomb in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 took the lives of more than 70 thousand people. 130 thousand residents of this Japanese city died later from radiation sickness.

The task of the Totsk exercises was to organize offensive actions of our troops against an imaginary enemy through its epicenter after the explosion of an atomic bomb. For the first time, the soldiers and officers who took part in the exercises were tested for resistance to nuclear weapons. On the obelisk at the epicenter is engraved: “To those who despised danger, fulfilled their military duty in the name of the defensive might of the Motherland.” Needless to say, it was written beautifully and majestically, but, obviously, both the inscription and the “atomic” heroes were quickly forgotten.

The completed team of 300-400 people (mostly young officers) was put into the heated vehicles of the “five hundred cheerful” train, and four days later they were transported to the station, which is 50 km south of Semipalatinsk. At the checkpoint, the security officers guarding the territory of the training ground meticulously checked our documents. It became clear: we are at a site of special importance and secrecy.

I got into the K-300 team. Our task is to deliver animals on specially equipped transport to the site of the bomb explosion, and then return them to the vivarium laboratory.

We were given special clothing: cotton overalls and caps, underwear soaked in some special solution, rubber gloves, stockings, shoe covers, and gas masks. In the pocket of the overalls lay a black, hermetically sealed capsule-dosimeter-storage with an individual number, by which one could find out who it belonged to if something irreparable happened...

We are waiting for the “H” hour to arrive (this is what the military calls receiving an order to begin a combat operation). The wait drags on unbearably slowly. Finally, amid the dead silence, the command from their megaphone sounded: “Close your eyes!” And the seconds ticked by, each of which seemed like an eternity.

Another moment, and the first thing we felt was blinding from the explosion. Even with my eyes closed, it felt as if strong lightning had flashed somewhere nearby. Then I felt a long, unlike anything else, grinding sound wave - and after one or two seconds the earth shook and groaned loudly.

Without waiting for a command, the most impatient ones timidly raised their heads, turning in the direction from which the rumble came. Before our eyes, a grey-black, ominous, fantastic mushroom was born and growing.

He moved the edges of his terrible hat as if alive. And blocked out the sun. The impression was as if it was twilight.

At first we were petrified with fear. But the stupor was interrupted by the commands: “Get up!”, “Put on gas masks!”, “Get to the cars!” We knew what to do next, and we moved along certain routes to our objects. After 3-5 km. our car was enveloped in a thick cloud of dust and fumes. It was stuffy and hot, but the windows in the car were not allowed to be opened in order to avoid the ingress of radioactive dust... to “protect” from radiation.

A huge mushroom, rising several kilometers above the ground, began to tilt, lose its shape, and with it the gray-brown clouds slowly floated to the midday west. For 5-7 km. From the center of the explosion, there were individual animals that, having gotten loose from their leash, wandered in all directions, just as far as possible from the inferno. They looked pitiful and scary.

Burnt, mangled bodies, watery or blinded eyes. Some animals had ichor oozing from their mouths. A monstrous sight! And it became even scarier as we approached the epicenter of the explosion. Here the grass burned hotter, the charred earth smoked, on which mutilated corpses of animals lay. New military equipment, damaged and thrown from their starting places just yesterday, was lying everywhere. Brick and reinforced concrete buildings turned into piles of stones and reinforcement. What could burn, burned. The moaning and howling of animals was heard from everywhere. Truly hell...

The driver and I worked like crazy, realizing that every extra minute we were here did not promise anything good. And our job was to load the surviving animals onto cars and send them to the vivarium, where veterinary service specialists were waiting for them...

On the platform of the station in Saratov, to our great surprise, we heard a TASS report about an event, the direct participants of which were: “A new formidable weapon has been tested in the Soviet Union, which will put an end to the blackmail of the aggressive forces of world imperialism and will be a reliable guarantor of peace on earth...”

We, who were involved in this event, took our breath away and our eyes sparkled. We felt proud of the honorable performance of military duty and the difficult ordeal that befell us. Everyone thought about their own – what they had experienced, seen, unforgettable...

A few years after the training, I was sent to Kazakhstan to harvest crops. There I met with friends from the military school, whom I had last seen at the training ground. Without saying a word, we returned to it, to the training ground, more than once in conversations. It turned out that none of the participants in the nuclear exercises could boast of good health as before. One does not leave hospitals and clinics because his liver and kidneys hurt. In the second, doctors discovered a disorder of the nervous system and, as a result, chronic insomnia, fatigue, apathy towards everything around him and towards life. And the third did not have a good personal life - a consequence of the negative effects of radiation.

And some friends were remembered according to folk custom, wishing: “May the earth rest in peace.” No one - neither friends in the service, nor wives, nor children - ever learned that another hostage of the nuclear age had passed away - a guinea pig of the system to which he swore an oath of silence, which he did until he fell silent forever.

There are few “nuclear” soldiers left in Ukraine. Most of them died without waiting for the legalization of their status as a participant in military exercises using nuclear weapons.

We have to bitterly regret that we will never know the truth: have these “nuclear” hostages, who died prematurely, forgive us, sinners, for our callousness and indifference? Although, perhaps, it was better for them - they did not feel the disastrous blow of the official phrase: “I didn’t send you there.”