Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy was a Soviet program to investigate peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs). It was analogous to the US program Operation Plowshare. “CCCP” redirects here. ... Chagan (nuclear test) in Soviet Union 1965 was used to create a dam on Semipalatinsk river Peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) are nuclear explosions conducted for non-military purposes, such as activities related to economic development including the creation of canals. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The 1962 Sedan plowshares shot displaced 12 million tons of earth and created a crater 320 feet (97. ...

Chagan nuclear test; the photo is sometimes confused with Joe 1 in the literature.

One of the better-known tests was Chagan of January 15, 1965. Radioactivity from the Chagan test was detected over Japan by both the U.S. and Japan in apparent violation of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT). The United States complained to the Soviets, but the matter was dropped. Image File history File links Chagan_nuclear_test. ... Image File history File links Chagan_nuclear_test. ... Chagan nuclear test, not to be confused with Joe 1. ... External links http://gawain. ... Chagan nuclear test, not to be confused with Joe 1. ... is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Treaty Banning poop, in Outer Space, and Under Water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT), although the former also refers to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), is a treaty intended to obtain an agreement...

History

In November 1949, shortly after the test of their first nuclear device on September 23, 1949, Andrey Vyshinsky, the Soviet representative to the United Nations, delivered a statement justifying their efforts to develop their own nuclear weapons capability. He said: Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Andrey Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinskiy (Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский) (December 10, 1883 [O.S. November 28]–November 22, 1954), also spelt Vishinsky, Vyshinski, was a Russian and Soviet jurist and later diplomat. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ...

However the USSR did not immediately follow the U.S. lead in 1958 in establishing a program. Presumably, their position in support of a comprehensive nuclear testing ban stalled any efforts to establish such a program until the mid-1960s. Soviet Union administrative divisions, 1989 In its final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Preparation for an underground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site in the 1980s. ...

When Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy was finally formally established, Alexander D. Zakharenkov, a chief weapons designer, was appointed head of the program. Initially, the Soviet program was focused on two applications, nuclear excavation and petroleum stimulation, similarly to the U.S. program. However, interest in other applications quickly developed, and within five years the Soviet program was actively exploring six or seven applications involving participation by some ten government departments. In civil engineering, earthworks are engineering works created through the moving of massive quantities of soil or unformed stone. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ...

Once underway the Soviets conducted a much more vigorous program than the Americans' Operation Plowshare, consisting of some 156 nuclear tests, some with multiple devices, between 1965 and 1989. These tests were similar in aims to the American effort, with the exception that six of the shots were considered of an applied nature, that is they were not tests per se, but were used to put out runaway gas well fires and a methane blow out. Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... A blowout is the uncontrolled release of a formation fluid, usually gas, from a well being drilled, typically for petroleum production. ...

There were in fact two programs:

• "Employment of Nuclear Explosive Technologies in the Interests of National Economy," also referred to as "Program 6," involved industrial underground PNEs and testing of new PNE technologies. As part of the program, 124 tests with 135 devices were conducted. Primary objectives of the program were water reservoir development, dam and canal construction, and creation of underground cavities for toxic waste storage.
• "Peaceful Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy," also referred to as "Program-7," involved testing of industrial nuclear charges for use in peaceful activities. Nuclear detonations were conducted with the stated purpose of searching for useful mineral resources with reflection seismology, breaking up ore bodies, stimulating the production of oil and gas, and forming underground cavities for storing the recovered oil and gas. The "Program" numbers come from the USSR's classification system of nuclear explosions, the first five programs designating various phases of nuclear weapon development.

All together, the Program-7 conducted 115 nuclear explosions. Among them: The Ashokan Reservoir, located in Ulster County, New York, USA. It is one of 19 that supplies New York City with drinking water. ... This article is about structures for water impoundment. ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ... Toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. ... Seismic reflection data Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earths subsurface from reflected seismic waves. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fusion or fission. ...

• 39 explosions for the purpose of the geological exploration (trying to find new natural gas deposits by studying seismic waves produced by small nuclear explosions
• 25 explosions for intensification of oil and gas debits
• 22 explosions for creating underground storage for natural gas
• 5 explosions for extinguishing large natural gas fountains
• 4 explosions for creating channels and dams (including the Chagan test)
• 2 explosions for crushing ores in the open-pit mines
• 2 explosions for creating underground storage for the toxic wastes
• 1 explosion to facilitate coal mining in an underground mine
• 19 explosions were performed for research purposes (studying possible migration of the radioactivity from the place of the explosions).^[1]

These explosions were financed by various ministries: 51 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Geology, 26 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Natural Gas, 13 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Oil, 19 explosions were financed by the MinSredMash itself (the predecessor of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency). There were two large explosions of 140 kilotons and 105 kilotons; all others were relatively small with an average yield of 12.5 kilotons. For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ... Body waves and surface waves Earthquake wave paths p-wave and s-wave from seismograph A seismic wave is a wave that travels through the Earth, most often as the result of a tectonic earthquake, sometimes from an explosion. ... Chagan nuclear test, not to be confused with Joe 1. ... Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a volume of rock containing components or minerals in a mode of occurrence which renders it valuable for mining. ... El Chino, located near Silver City, New Mexico, is an open-pit copper mine Open-pit mining, or opencast mining, refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... The Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAEA) (Russian: ), often abbreviated as RosAtom () or MinAtom (), is the federal agency of Russia, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. ... Look up ton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The last nuclear explosion by the Program-7, codenamed Rubin-1 was performed in Arkhangelsk oblast on September 6, 1988. The explosion was a part of a seismic program for geological exploration. The Soviets agreed to stop their PNE program at the end of 1988 as a result of then president Mikhail Gorbachev's disarmament initiative. Arkhangelsk (Russian: ), formerly called Archangel in English, is a city in and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. ... Oblast (Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasť, Russian and Ukrainian: , Belarusian: , Bulgarian: о́бласт) refers to a subnational entity in some countries. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Soviet redirects here. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ), surname more accurately romanized as Gorbachyov; (born 2 March 1931) is a Russian politician. ...

There are proponents for continuing the PNE programs in modern Russia. They (e.g. A. Koldobsky) state that the program has already paid for itself and saved the USSR billions of rubles and can save even more if it would continue. They also allege that the PNE is the only feasible way to put out large fountains and fires on natural gas deposits, and it is the safest and most economically viable way to destroy chemical weapons. Dressing the wounded during a gas attack by Austin O. Spare, 1918. ...

Their opponents (including the academician A.V. Yablokov) state that all PNE technologies have non-nuclear alternatives and that many PNEs actually caused nuclear disasters.^[2]

Problems

Among the most cited catastrophes was the Kraton-3 explosion in Vilyuy, Yakutia in 1978, that was supposed to unearth a large amount of diamond-rich ores. Instead the amount of diamonds was insignificant but the plutonium pollution of the water sources was much higher than predicted. According to Yablokov, the level of plutonium in the drinking water of Vilyuy region twenty years after the explosion is ten thousand times higher than the maximal sanitary norm. The Vilyuy River is the longest tributary of the Lena in eastern Siberia. ... The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic (Russian: ; Sakha: Саха Республиката) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the gemstone. ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight (244) g·mol−1 Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ...

Another catastrophe resulted from the Globus-1 explosion near village Galkino, 40 kilometers from Kineshma city on September 19, 1971.^[3] It was a very small underground explosion of 2.5 kilotons that was a part of the seismological program for oil and gas exploration. Unexpectedly a large amount of radioactive gases went out through the cracks in the ground, creating a significant highly radioactive spot of two kilometers in diameter in the relatively densely populated area of European Russia. To make things worse, a small tributary of the Volga, the Shacha, changed its location and threatened to flood the very hole of the explosion. This could have led to nuclear pollution of the entire Volga region. Some engineers suggested building a sarcophagus (similar to the Chernobyl's "Object Shelter") over the place of the explosions and digging a 12 km channel to shift the Shacha river away from the place of the explosion, but the plans appeared prohibitively expensive. Kineshma before the Russian Revolution Kineshma (Russian: ) is the second largest town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia. ... is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... “Volga” redirects here. ... Radioactive waste are waste types containing radioactive chemical elements that do not have a practical purpose. ... The Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses, at the National Etruscan Museum. ... Coordinates: 51°2322. ...

The experiments continued past the dissolution of the USSR and came to an end with the adoption by Russia of a unilateral moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons at Soviet test sites in 1989. Although it primarily was designed to support Mikhail Gorbachev's call for a world-wide ban on nuclear weapons tests, the Russians apparently also applied the moratorium to peaceful nuclear explosions as well. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ), surname more accurately romanized as Gorbachyov; (born 2 March 1931) is a Russian politician. ...

Conclusion

As noted, the Soviet PNE Program was many times larger than the U.S. Plowshare Program in terms of both the number of applications explored with field experiments and the extent to which they were introduced into industrial use. Several PNE applications, such as deep seismic sounding and oil stimulation, were explored in depth and appeared to have had a positive cost benefit at minimal public risk. Several others, such as deep void storage, developed significant technical problems that cast a shadow on their general applicability. Some, such as closure of runaway gas wells, demonstrated a unique technology that may yet find application as a last resort. Still others were the subject of one or two tests but were not explored further for reasons that have never been explained. Overall, the program represented a significant technical effort to explore what was seen at the time to be a promising new technology, and it generated a large body of data, although only a small fraction of it has been made public.

Notes

1. ^ (Russian) 1september.ru: Technology of Nuclear Explosion
2. ^ (Russian) A.V. Yablokov: Nuclear Mythology at the End of Twentieth Century BioMetrica Magazine.
3. ^ (Russian) Gazeta35: Horishima, Volgograd-style

See also

• Peaceful nuclear explosions
• Soviet atomic bomb project
• Operation Plowshare

Chagan (nuclear test) in Soviet Union 1965 was used to create a dam on Semipalatinsk river Peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) are nuclear explosions conducted for non-military purposes, such as activities related to economic development including the creation of canals. ... Andrei Sakharov (left) with Igor Kurchatov (right) The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb began during World War II in the Soviet Union. ... The 1962 Sedan plowshares shot displaced 12 million tons of earth and created a crater 320 feet (97. ...

External links

• USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions. 1949 through 1990, an official publication of Federal Atomic Energy Agency.
• The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions (PDF), a United States Department of Energy publication.