This database covers USSR nuclear tests from 1949 to 1990 (in three parts), Soviet and Russian hydrodynamic tests, and relevant events which were non-nuclear or of ambiguous nature. The overview provides a statistical summary with maps.

• Overview
• Part 1, 1949-1963
• Part 2, 1964-1978
• Part 3, 1979-1990
• Hydrodynamic tests
• Non-nuclear and ambiguous events

Guide to data listing: Column data:

• Test series--year
• Shot name--number in official Russian listing, Russian shot/program name if known, U.S. nickname in parenthesis
• Shot code--
  • S--salvo test, first listed detonation
  • SS--salvo test, additional detonations
  • X--event not including in official Russian listing
• Year, month, day (GMT)
• Time (GMT)
• Site--
  • test sites:
    • MTR--Missile Testing Range
    • NZ--Novaya Zemlya:
      • NZ-CB--Novaya Zemlya, Chernaya Bay
      • NZ-MB--Novaya Zemlya, Mityushikha Bay
      • NZ-NS--Novaya Zemlya, Northern Site (Matochkin Shar)
      • NZ-SS--Novaya Zemlya, Southern Site (Belushya)
    • STS--Semipalatinsk Test Site:
      • STS-B--Semipalatinsk, Balapan
      • STS-D--Semipalatinsk, Degelen
      • STS-GZ--Semipalatinsk, Ground Zero (Technical Area Sh)
      • STS-SU--Semipalatinsk, Sary-Uzen
      • STS-T--Semipalatinsk, Telkem
  • outside test sites:
    • -KZ--Kazakhstan:
      • -KZ-BA--Kazakhstan, Bolshoy Azgir area
      • -KZ-KA--Kazakhstan, Karachaganakskoye oil field
      • -KZ-MA--Kazakhstan, Mangyshlak oblast
    • -RU--Russia:
      • -RU-A--Russia, Arkhangelsk area
      • -RU-AS--Russia, Astrakhan gas deposit
      • -RU-BK--Russia, Bashkir
      • -RU-K--Russia, Krasnoyarsk area
      • -RU-M--Russia, Murmansk
      • -RU-O--Russia, Orenberg area
      • -RU-P--Russia, Perm area
      • -RU-T--Russia, Tuymen area
      • -RU-YK--Russia, Yakutia
    • -TU--Turkmenistan
    • -UK--Ukraine
    • -UZ--Uzbekistan
• Latitude (° N) and Longitude (° E)
• Location/time code--
  • A--announced/ground truth
  • C--time conversion uncertain
  • S--seismic determination
  • *--time or lat./long. presumed
• Hole designation--shaft or tunnel number
• Height of burst--negative indicates depth
• Ground zero altitude--negative indicates water depth, 0 indicates water of unknown depth
• Ground zero code--
  • A--announced/ground truth
  • D--derived
  • DMN--derived, minimum depth
  • DMX--derived, maximum depth
  • MX--maximum height/depth
  • ?--uncertain
• Type of detonation--
  • A--atmospheric
    • A-AD--airdrop
    • A-CM--cruise missile
    • A-R--rocket or missile
  • AH--atmospheric, high altitude (between 30 km and 80 km)
    • AH-R--rocket
  • AS--atmospheric, surface
    • AS-AD--airdrop
    • AS-R--rocket or missile
    • AS-T--tower
  • AW--atmospheric, water surface
    • AW-AS--anti-submarine weapon or torpedo
    • AW-CM--cruise missile
  • AX--space (altitude over 80 km)
    • AX-R--rocket
  • UG--underground
    • UG-CS--cavity, shaft
    • UG-M--mine
    • UG-S--shaft
    • UG-T-tunnel
  • UW--underwater
    • UW-AS--antisubmarine weapon or torpedo
    • UW-B--barge
• Purpose--
  • FS--fundamental science
  • I--industrial applications:
    • I-CV--cavity excavation
    • I-EM--earth-moving
    • I-FE--extinguishing of oil/gas well fire
    • I-OS--oil stimulation
    • I-SS--seismic sounding
  • JV--joint verification
  • ME--military exercise
  • PR--research for peaceful applications
  • SE--safety experiment
  • ST--storage/transportation experiment
  • VU--Vela uniform
  • WE--weapons effects
  • WR--nuclear weapons related
• Yield, minimum and maximum--in kt, Russian figures
• Yield, estimated--in kt, reported figures from unofficial or Western sources
• Yield notes--
  • MX--maximum
  • R--reported
  • S--seismic estimate
• Yield, preferred value--incorporation information on annual total yields and compiler's model of yield-to-seismic magnitude relations (note: seismic estimate values for Semipalantisk tests, 1964-1976, may be high by 30%)
• Magnitude Mb--seismic magnitude
• Crater--number indicates diameter in meters, C indicates crater or collapse pit resulted
• Vented--V indicates venting occurred; radioactivity release, if known, is given in curies (Ci), kilocuries (kCi), or megacuries (MCi)
• Device
  • FZ--fizzile
  • IC--implosion, composite core
  • IP--implosion, plutonium core
  • IU--implosion, uranium core
  • ND--no detonation
  • SL--sloika/layer cake thermonuclear (number indicates % fission)
  • TN--thermonuclear, multistage (number indicates % fission)
• Warhead--designation (or by delivery system followed by "wh")
• Sponsor--design bureau (KB-11 or Ch-70)
• Reported--
  • A--annouced by USA prior to 1990
  • S--announced by USSR prior to 1990
  • X--not included in official Russia test lists (1996-1999)
• Notes--additional notes forthcoming
• Sources--see list below

Sources for USSR test list:

• 1 = RFNC-VNIIEF, 1996, USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions 1949 through 1990, RFNC-VNIIEF (Sarov, Russia), on line at Analytic Center for Non-Proliferation Problems [http://npc.sarov.ru/english/issues/peaceful/peaceful_e.pdf].
• 2 = RFNC-VNIIEF, 1998, USSR Nuclear Tests, Hydronuclear Experiments, Plutonium Inventory, RFNC-VNIIEF (Sarov, Russia), on line at Analytic Center for Non-Proliferation Problems [http://npc.sarov.ru/english/issues/plutonium/plutonium_e.pdf].
• 3 = Yang, Xiaoping, Robert North, and Carl Romney, Aug. 2000, "CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3)," on line, SMDC Monitoring Research [http://www.rdss.info/database/nucex/report/explosion.pdf].
• 4 = Podvig, Pavel, ed., 2001, Russian Strategic Forces, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA).
• 5 = Cochran, Thomas B., William M. Arkin, Robert S. Norris, and Jeffrey I. Sands, Nuclear Weapons Databook Vol. IV: Soviet Nuclear Weapons, Harper and Row (New York, NY).
• 6 = Khalturin, Vitaly I., Tatyana G. Rautian, and Paul G. Richards, 2000, "A study of small magnitude seismic events during 1961-1989 on and near the Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan," forthcoming, on line [http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~richards/PAGEOPHsupp.html].
• 7 = Thurber, Clifford, Chad Trabant, Florian Haslinger, and Renate Hartog, 2001, "Nuclear explosion locations at the Balapan, Kazakhstan, nuclear test site: the effects of high-precision arrival times and three-dimensional structure," Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 123:283-301.
• 8 = Won-Young Kim, Paul G. Richards, Vitaly Adushkin, and Vladimir Ovtchinnikov, April 2001, "Borovoye digital seismogram archive for underground nuclear tests during 1966-1996," LDEO, on line [http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Monitoring/Data/Brv_arch_ex/brv_text_table.pdf].
• 9 = IAEA, Dec. 2004, "Nuclear explosions in the USSR: The North Test Site reference material, version 4," IAEA Dept. of Nuclear Safety and Security, on line [http://www-ns.iaea.org/downloads/rw/waste-safety/north-test-site-final.pdf]
• 10 = Trabant, Chad, Clifford Thurber, and William Leith, 2002, "Ground truth seismic events and location capability at Degelen mountain, Kazakhstan," Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 131:155-171.
• a = Stevens, Jeffrey L., Norton Rimer, Heming Xu, G. Eli Baker, John R. Murphy, Gevorg G. Kocharyan, and Boris A. Ivanov, , "Near-field and regional modeling of explosions at the Degelen test site," 24th Seismic Research Symposium, on line [https://www.nemre.nnsa.doe.gov/prod/reseachreview/2002/Screen/03-13.pdf].
• b = Eneva, Mariana, Jeffry L. Stevens, Jack Murphy, and Boris D. Khristoforov, "Effect of charge depth in Russian hydroacoustic data from nuclear and HE explosions," 22nd Seismic Research Review, on line [https://www.nemre.nnsa.doe.gov/prod/researchreview/2000/05/05-03.pdf].
• c = Zaloga, Steven J., 2002, The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces, 1945-2000, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC).
• d = Zaloga, Steven J., 1993, Target America: The Soviet Union and the Strategic Arms Race, 1945-1964, Presidio Press (Novato, CA).
• e = Holloway, David, 1994, Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956, Yale Univ. Press (New Haven, CT).
• f = Sykes, Lynn R., and Graham C. Wiggins, 1986, "Yields of Soviet underground nuclear explosions at Novaya Zemlya, 1964-1976, from seismic body and surface waves," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 83:201-205.
• g = Smith, J. N., K. M. Ellis, L. Polyak, G. Ivanov, S. L. Forman, and S. B. Moran, 2000, "239, 240 Pu transport into the Arctic Ocean from underwater nuclear tests in Chernaya Bay, Novaya Zemlya," Continental Shelf Research, 20:255-279.
• h = Gedeonov, A. D., E. R. Petrov, V. G. Alexeev, I. N. Kuleshova, M. L. Savopulo, I. S. Burtsev, V. Yu. Shkroev, and V. I. Arkhipov, 2002, "Residual radioactive contamination at the peaceful underground nuclear explosion sites 'Craton-3' and 'Crystal' in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)," Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 60:221-234.
• i = Gordeev, K., I. Vasilenko, A. Lebedev, A. Bouville, N. Luckyanov, S. L. Simon, Y. Stepanov, S. Shinkarev, and L. Anspaugh, 2002, "Fallout from nuclear tests: dosimetry in Kazakhstan," Radiation Environmental Biophysics, 41:61-67.
• j = Stevens, Jeffry L., David A. Adams, G. Eli Baker, Heming Xu, John R. Murphy, Igor Divnor, V. N. Bourchik, Ivan Kitov, "Infrasound scaling and attenuation relations from Soviet explosion data and instrument design criteria from experiments and simulations," 21st Seismic Research Symposium, on line at SMDC Monitoring Research [http://www.rdss.info/librarybox/srr/srr1999/papers5/stevens.pdf].
• k = Sakharov, Andrei, 1990, Memoirs, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY).
• m = Weir, Gary E., and Walter J. Boyne, 2003, Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines that Fought the Cold War, Basic Books (New York, NY).
• n = Adamsky, Viktor, and Yuri Smirnov, "Moscow's Biggest Bomb: the 50-Megaton Test of October 1961, by Viktor Adamsky and Yuri Smirnov," Cold War International History Project Bulletin, no. 4, on line at Cold War International History Project [http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=302].
• o = Penkovskiy, Oleg, 1965, The Penkovskiy Papers, Doubleday and Co. (Garden City, NY).
• p = Goncharov, German A., Nov. 1996, "(3) The race accelerates," Physics Today, 49:56-61.
• q = Stevens, J. L., I. I. Divnov, D. A. Adams, J. R. Murphy, and V. N. Bourchik, 2002, "Constraints on infrasound scaling and attenuation relations from Soviet explosion data," Pure and Applied Geophysics, 159:1045-1062.
• r = Adushkin, Vitaly V., and William Leith, Sept. 2001, "The containment of Soviet underground nuclear explosions," USGS Open File Report 01-312, on line, USGS [http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eespteam/pdf/USGSOFR01312.pdf].
• s = Stone, Richard, 2003, "Plutonium fields forever," Science, 300:1220-1223.
• t = Shebell, Peter, and Adam R. Hutter, July 1996, "Environmental radiation measurements at the former Soviet Union's Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and surrounding villages," U.S. Dept. of Energy, on line [http://www.eml.doe.gov/publications/reports/eml584.pdf].
• u = Mitchell, B. J., O. W. Nuttli, J. K. Xie, H. Al-Shukri, and A. Correig, May 1989, "Seismic wave attenuation and yield determination at regional distances," Saint Louis Univ. Geophysics Lab Report.
• v =
• w = Hartse, Hans E., 2000, "Regional seismic event discrimination in Siberia," 22nd Seismic Research Review, on line [https://www.nemre.nnsa.doe.gov/prod/researchreview/2000/05/05-16.pdf].
• x = Haave, C. R., A. J. Zmuda, and B. W. Shaw, 1965, "Very low-frequency phase perturbations and the Soviet high-altitude nuclear bursts of October 22 and 28, 1962," Journal of Geophysical Research, 70:4191+
• y = .., 1963, "Ionospheric effects following distant nuclear detonations," Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 212-218.
• z = Keppler, E., G. Pfotzer, and W. Riedler, 1964, "Radioactive debris from nuclear explosions in high altitudes," Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 26:429-436.
• aa = Crampin, Stuart, 1966, "Higher-mode seismic surface waves from atmospheric nuclear explosions over Novaya Zemlya," Journal of Geophysical Research, 71:2951-2958
• ab = Zmuda, A. J., C. R. Haave, and B. W. Shaw, 1966, "VLF phase perturbatiosn produced by the Soviet high-altitude nuclear explosion of November 1, 1962," Journal of Geophysical Research, 71:899+
• ac = Machta, L. R. J. List, and K. Telegadas, 1962, "A survey of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests," Journal of Geophysical Research, 67:1389-1400.
• ad = Donn, William L., and Maurice Ewing, 1962, "Atmospheric waves from nuclear explosions," Journal of Geophysical Research, 67:1855+
• ae = Nilsen, Thomas, and Igor Kudrik, 8 Sept. 2000, "Russia performed three subcritical nuclear tests," Bellona, on line [http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/nuke-weapons/nuke-test/17814.html].
• af = Nilsen, Thomas, 8 Feb. 2000, "Seven subcritical tests in the Arctic," Bellona, on line [http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/nuke-weapons/nuke-test/15329.html].
• ag = Nilsen, Thomas, 29 Dec. 1998, "Five subcritical nuclear tests since September," Bellona, on line [http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/nuke-weapons/nuke-test/8900.html].
• ah = Kudrik, Igor, 10 Dec. 1998, "Russia performs subcritical nuclear test, drafts START-II law," Bellona, on line [http://www.bellona.org/imaker?sub=1&id=8899].
• ai = Nilsen, Thomas, 5 Oct. 1999, "More subcritical tests at Novaya Zemlya," Bellona, on line [http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/nuke-weapons/nuke-test/8717.html].
• aj = Nuclear Threat Institute, "Russia: Central Test Site, Novaya Zemlya," Nuclear Threat Institute, on line [http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/weafacl/othernuc/novayaze.htm].
• ak = Heller, Arnie, July/Aug. 2000, "Underground explosions are music to their ears," LLNL, on line [http://www.llnl.gov/str/Conrad.html].
• al = SMDC, 2004, "Nuclear explosion database," SMDC Monitoring Research Program, on line, [http://www.rdss.info/index_ie.html].
• am = Coaltion to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, 29 Oct. 1997, "No evidence of nuclear test in August by Russia," Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Site, on line.
• an = Sykes, Lynn R., 1997, "Small earthquake near Russian test site leads to U.S. charges of cheating on Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," FAS Public Interest Report, 50(6), on line at Federation of American Scientists [http://www.fas.org/faspir/pir1197.htm].
• ao = USGS, 2005, "Earthquake Search," USGS, on line [http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/epic/epic_rect.html].
• ap = Stukin, Eugeny, and Yuri Izrael, 1998, "Radionuclides deposition over the territories adjacent to the Semipalatinsk Test Site according to the data of geophysical surveys carried out in 1960s and 1990s," in Atmospheric Nuclear Tests: Environmental and Human Consequences, ed. by Charles S. Shapiro, Springer-Verlag (Berlin, Germany), pp. 105-112.