Nuclear Explosions in the USSR: the North Test Site Reference Material
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NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS IN THE USSR: THE NORTH TEST SITE REFERENCE MATERIAL VERSION 4 DECEMBER 2004 The originating Division of this publication in the IAEA was: The Division of Nuclear Safety and Security International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria FOREWORD During the last decade a number of publications have been issued containing information about the past nuclear weapons tests and their radiological consequences for the environment and the public. In Russia, monographs devoted to operation of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan, and the North Test Site, located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, were recently published as well as a monograph devoted to the peaceful underground nuclear explosions. This document contains reference materials and papers of Russian experts presented at international and national scientific meetings and public hearings devoted to operation of the North Test Site and the radiological impact of nuclear weapons testing. These materials were originally published in Russia in 1993 and the second edition in 1999 as “Nuclear Explosions in the USSR: The North Test Site, Reference material on nuclear explosions, radiology, radiation safety”. The monograph was published by the Interagency Expert Commission on assessment of radiation and seismic safety of underground nuclear tests, Scientific-Industrial Association“V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute”, Russian Nuclear Society (Section: Environmental aspects of nuclear power), and the Centre for Public Information on Nuclear Power. The second, corrected and extended edition, edited by Academician V. N. Mikhailov, Dr. Yu. V. Dubasov and Prof. A. M. Matushchenko is the first issue containing detailed reference materials on nuclear explosions for the period 1955–1990 at the North Test Site, and on the radiation situation on its territory and in adjacent regions. The document contains contributions from experts from the Ministry of Atomic Energy, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Health of Russia: K. N. Andrianov, V. N. Bazhenov, V. V. Vyskrebentsev, Ya. Ye. Doskoch, Yu. V. Dubasov, V. P. Dumik, G. Ye. Zolotukhin, V. M. Ivanov, V. M. Karimov, V. V. Kasatkin, G. A. Kaurov, Ye. P. Kozlov, G. A. Krasilov, A. S. Krivokhatskiy, G. G. Kudryavtsev, V. I. Kulikov, A. L. Mal`tsev, A. M. Matushchenko, V. N. Mikhailov, K. V. Myasnikov, A. V. Pichugin, P. V. Ramzaev, V. G. Safronov, V. G. Strukov, V. I. Filippovskiy, N. P. Filonov, K. V. Kharitonov, G. A. Tsyrkov, A. K. Chernyshov, V. V. Chugunov, Yu. Ye. Shipko under the leadership of V. N. Mikhailov, G. Ye. Zolotukhin and A. M. Matushchenko. The data were checked by the Interagency Expert Commission on assessment of radiation and seismic safety of underground nuclear tests within the complex programme of radiological investigations of the North Test Site and adjacent territories REGION-2. The reference material has been reviewed by members of the National Commission for Radiation Protection of the USSR: G. M. Avetisov, K. I. Gordeev, and U. Ya. Margulis. At the request of the editors of the Russian version, the document, which contains much information previously unknown to the world’s radiological protection community, was translated into English by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and posted on the website of its Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. The English translation contains all the technical data and technical papers found in the Russian version but some papers of a memorial nature are omitted. The IAEA officer responsible for this publication was M. Balonov of the Division of Radiation and Waste Safety. EDITORIAL NOTE The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. THE MENTION OF NAMES OF SPECIFIC COMPANIES OR PRODUCTS (WHETHER OR NOT INDICATED AS REGISTERED) DOES NOT IMPLY ANY INTENTION TO INFRINGE PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED AS AN ENDORSEMENT OR RECOMMENDATION ON THE PART OF THE IAEA. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 2. NORTH TEST SITE: BASIC INFORMATION ON NUCLEAR TESTS (1955-1992) ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.1. Number of nuclear tests ........................................................................................ 4 2.2. Characteristics of nuclear tests............................................................................ 14 2.2.1. Distribution of nuclear tests in the USSR and the USA in energy groups...................................................................................................... 14 2.3. Main initial parameters for assessment of radiation consequences of nuclear explosions............................................................................................... 15 2.4. Current radiological situation in far North.......................................................... 16 2.5. Criteria for radiation and seismic safety of underground nuclear test explosions ........................................................................................................... 18 2.6. Scientific support of today’s radiological research related to North Test Site activity ......................................................................................................... 23 2.7. Information on the North Test Site ..................................................................... 27 2.8. Novaya Zemlya – Nevada (questions and answers) ........................................... 28 3. CHRONOLOGY AND RADIATION PHENOMENOLOGY OF UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TESTS......................................................................... 35 3.1. Chronology of underground nuclear explosions at the North Test Site (1964–1990)........................................................................................................ 39 3.2. Radiation phenomenology of underground nuclear tests at the North Test Site ...................................................................................................................... 40 4. EXPERT REPORTS....................................................................................................... 60 4.1. North Test Site: chronology and phenomenology of nuclear tests at the Novaya Zemlya test site...................................................................................... 60 4.1.1. Novaya Zemlya Archipelago: brief historical reference......................... 61 4.1.2. Development and Performance of the North Test Site ........................... 62 4.1.3. North Test Site: phenomenology of nuclear tests ................................... 62 4.1.4. The initial radiation background ............................................................. 63 4.1.5. Radiation situation in the nineties........................................................... 64 4.1.6. Summary ................................................................................................. 64 4.2. Radioactive product containment during underground nuclear explosions in geological formations of Novaya Zemlya....................................................... 69 4.2.1. Principal premises of the concept of ensuring radiation safety of underground nuclear tests ....................................................................... 69 4.2.2. Features of the geological formation of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago .............................................................................................. 70 4.2.3. Conditions for localizing radioactive products of underground nuclear explosions with regard to the geology of the massif .................. 70 4.2.4. Practical results of ensuring radiation safety of underground nuclear explosions at the North Test Site................................................ 74 4.3. The North Test Site: aspects of environmental monitoring ................................ 77 4.4. Nuclear tests: radiation monitoring and safety ................................................... 89 4.5. Underground nuclear explosions in the Arctic for peaceful purposes................ 93 4.6. Fauna of Novaya Zemlya today.......................................................................... 99 4.7. Safety of underground nuclear tests at the northern (Novaya Zemlya) ............ 104 4.8. Radioactivity of water in the Barents and Kara Seas........................................ 110 4.9. Criteria of increased environmental safety at underground nuclear tests ......... 116 4.10. Assessing external gamma and beta exposure of participants in nuclear tests in the absence of individual dosimetric monitoring.................................. 119 4.11. Around the Arctic nuclear Test Site: radiological consequences on adjacent territories............................................................................................. 121 APPENDIX I: ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... 126 APPENDIX II: SYMBOLS FOR VALUES.......................................................................... 128 APPENDIX III: RADIATION SAFETY STANDARDS AND RADIATION DOSES FROM IONIZING RADIATION SOURCES.............................................................. 129