Former head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry: the Novaya Zemlya test site is ready for nuclear tests

Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. Satellite image

The talk that Russia should lift the moratorium on nuclear testing has been going on in our country's expert community for quite some time. According to some experts, politicians and retired military personnel, this should be another clear signal to the West that the Russian Federation is ready to go all the way in protecting its national interests and state security.

The last time a nuclear (or atomic) charge with a yield of 70 kilotons was tested was on October 24, 1990, at the Novaya Zemlya archipelago test site, after which the USSR announced a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. weapons. The Russian Federation currently adheres to it.

All this time, the testing site on Novaya Zemlya, created in accordance with the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of July 31, 1954, was in a mothballed state. But this does not mean that the testing ground is no longer suitable for its intended purpose.

Former head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry, Colonel General Vladimir Verkhovtsev, said that the Russian test site on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is being maintained in readiness for the possible resumption of nuclear tests. He said this сообщил TASS, commenting on the statement by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Ryabkov.

In turn, a little earlier the Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry answered the agency's question on the matter. According to Ryabkov, the issue of resuming nuclear tests is facing the Russian Federation against the backdrop of the US's escalation course. This is a complex issue and is being considered in a comprehensive manner.

This question (about resuming nuclear weapons testing) is still on the table. And without prejudging anything, I will simply say that the situation is quite complicated. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.

— answered Ryabkov.

Earlier, in February of this year, Vladimir Yermakov, Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry, reported that, according to some indirect signs, Washington was preparing to make a decision to resume full-scale nuclear weapons testing. The Russian leadership has repeatedly warned that, if events develop in this way, Moscow will be forced to respond in kind.

The 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense is a military command body responsible for nuclear technical support and safety. The directorate was founded in September 1947. The first atomic bomb test in the USSR (RDS-1 product) was conducted on August 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site. In total, from that moment until the end of nuclear weapons testing, the Soviet Union conducted 715 nuclear tests.

The first underwater nuclear explosion in the USSR and the first nuclear explosion on Novaya Zemlya on September 21, 1955.

Comments

[dmi.pris1]

The testing ground is operational. Experiments are being conducted using conventional explosives. But yes. Nuclear weapons testing is necessary. At least for demonstration. Otherwise, they've forgotten what it looks like in the West.

[Uncle lee]

Without prejudging anything, I will simply say that the situation is quite complicated.

Everything is heading towards the point where testing will no longer be necessary....

[Vasya_2]

...and for the shock wave to circle the Earth three times.
three! no less...

[Oldrover]

And what this demonstration will give is like in boxing hitting the bag very hard and working effectively on the pads, and in the ring rubbing your back against the ropes, weakly throwing a jab.

[dmi.pris1]

Yes, you are right in some ways. Time will tell.

[ZovSailor]

dmi.pris1
Today, 14: 44
The testing ground is operational. Experiments are being conducted using conventional explosives. But yes. Nuclear weapons testing is necessary. At least for demonstration. Otherwise, they've forgotten what it looks like in the West.

In the language of workers and peasants, I understand that the preparation of the testing ground and a mirror response to the penguin tests will be one of the penultimate signals from the Russian Federation to the Anglo-Saxons to stop and accept the conditions of the Russian Federation; there will be no bending, otherwise they will not get away with the events of Afghanistan.

[fiv]

And what does it look like? They drilled a well (punched a shaft, ...), detonated a charge under the earth. No mushroom over the sea, no flash of a hundred suns... Not on the next street - so it's not scary. Who would be scared in the West or in Saloreikh? Well, they are not afraid of a well-mannered first-class boxer who does not dare to fight. And it's a pity about Novaya Zemlya, the Russian island. There are more suitable territories for this.

[Vasya_2]

Fr. Ratmanova, for example...

[Alexey Lantukh]

There is also the Yavoriv testing ground in the Lviv region near Poland. That's where we could test nuclear weapons, and a more powerful charge, and in an easterly wind.

[Eugene Zaboy]

Former head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry: the Novaya Zemlya test site is ready for nuclear tests

Don't you feel sorry for the musk oxen?

[Yuras_Belarus]

Musk oxen live in Tibet.

[dmi.pris1]

And some, especially advanced in high offices in the West

[Practitioner23354df]

Quote from: dmi.pris1

And some, especially advanced in high offices in the West

And also in the offices of the Kremlin, the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and so on.

[fiv]

I have at least a couple of musk oxen at work.

[Vladimir Vladimirovich Vorontsov]

"Musk oxen live in Tibet" -

— According to data from March 2024, the total number of musk oxen in Russia is estimated at 17 thousand individuals.
Populations of these animals live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Chukotka, Yakutia, Magadan Oblast, and also in zoos.
The largest population of musk oxen in Russia is located on Taimyr: according to scientists from the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Taimyr Nature Reserves", the herds number at least 5500 individuals. On Wrangel Island, the number of musk oxen has reached 1000-1200 individuals.
The musk ox is listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The total estimated population in the republic for 2024 is over 6,5 thousand individuals.
(Yaks live in Tibet)

[Yuras_Belarus]

There are none on Novaya Zemlya after all.

[Eugene Zaboy]

Quote: Yuras_Belarus

There are none on Novaya Zemlya after all.

Unfortunately, the military and musk oxen cannot get along with each other. Although it would be possible if they found a common language.

[bullfight]

It doesn't look like it, but they are unlikely to exist on Novaya Zemlya either.

[Sergej1972]

No, they don't live there. Yaks live in Tibet. Musk oxen live in our North, in Canada, Greenland, and have successfully taken root in Alaska.

[Alexey Lantukh]

Actually, they were initially brought to Taimyr, but it’s too far from Novaya Zemlya to suffer.

[Incvizitor]

It would be better to use the landfill on the outskirts.

[Yuras_Belarus]

Right on the borders of the Russian Federation and with prevailing southwest winds in its direction? Are you sure you are Russian?

[tihonmarine]

Quote: Yuras_Belarus

Right on the borders of the Russian Federation and with prevailing southwesterly winds

Well, I'm Russian (guran) and a captain with 50 years of experience, but from nautical school I knew that the wind blows in the compass, and the current from the compass, that is, the SW wind (southwest), blows from SW to NO. So it blows to the northeast of the Arctic Ocean. Is that clear, or what???

[carpenter]

Quote: tihonmarine

So it's blowing to the northeast of the Arctic Ocean. Is that clear, or what???

Dad, I know what it's like to argue with you, what's the point of writing against the wind.

[tihonmarine]

Quote: carpenter

Dad, I know what it's like to argue with you, what's the point of writing against the wind.

Well, I don't like illiterate people. The school is the Unified State Exam, not Soviet, and a smartphone is not a gift.

[carpenter]

Quote: Yuras_Belarus

Right on the borders of the Russian Federation and with prevailing southwest winds in its direction? Are you sure you are Russian?

But Vlad is right.

[Alexey Lantukh]

There is also the Yavoriv testing ground in the Lviv region near Poland. That's where we could test nuclear weapons, and a more powerful charge, and in an easterly wind.

[phrases]

A North American testing ground near Washington is ready for testing. The couch guard would like to see such a headline. But no, we are doomed to respond, not to strike preemptively. It was, it is, and it will be. Karma.

[Knell wardenheart]

From the category of how to create news out of nothing.. Not much equipment is needed for the tests to be tests and not demonstrations. If this is a demonstration test, then it is possible to do it practically without equipment. After all, a nuclear warhead is not made from scratch, it has long been a thing that is designed on computing power and modeled there. All modern states have been doing this for decades, in other words, testing for the sake of testing is generally not required.
For a demonstration test, we need, in general, a testing ground with objects placed at different distances from the epicenter, a tower that creates the optimal position in production for the warhead, video recording equipment with filters placed at different distances.
Considering the specifics of the test site, I believe that since the times of the USSR, a significant part of model objects, which are usually used in nuclear weapons testing, have remained there - I mean concrete, brick and other structures at different distances from the epicenter. As well as reinforced structures for fixation equipment - all this, due to the requirements of the nature of the task, was created in the literal sense very strong.
Cameras and most of the equipment are brought in for the task, of course. All that the honorable Mr. Verkhovtsev reported is, in essence, that after 34 years, the structures ready to accept the nuclear weapons and recording equipment still exist and are capable of accommodating this equipment.
The opposite would be surprising, given the specifics of such a structure as a permanent testing ground for nuclear weapons! If we had signed a moratorium 100+ years ago, then yes, perhaps. But 34 years for special concrete and capital protected structures is nothing or almost nothing.

[alexoff]

The West is shelling Russian territory with missiles? Well, now we will also shell something on Russian territory, the testing ground on Novaya Zemlya, for example! It's like in Yeralash, where the kid came home with a black eye and started hitting the pillow, imagining that it was the offender. But something tells me that our offenders won't get bruises from this

[Amateur]

The former head of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry, Colonel General Vladimir Verkhovtsev, said that the Russian test site on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is being maintained in readiness for the possible resumption of nuclear tests. He told TASS about this,

What, the law "On non-dissemination of information..." doesn't apply to a colonel general?

[dmi.pris1]

Did he divulge anything? An open secret.

[tralflot1832]

There is one military unit in the Matochkin Shar Strait, but it is not clear that there are two special vessels at the berths on the maritime traffic. Are our people making fun of us or something?

[ximkim]

In turn, a little earlier the Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry answered the agency's question on the matter. According to Ryabkov, the issue of resuming nuclear tests is facing the Russian Federation against the backdrop of the US's escalation course. This is a complex issue and is being considered in a comprehensive manner.

This question (about resuming nuclear weapons testing) is still on the table. And without prejudging anything, I will simply say that the situation is quite complicated. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.

— answered Ryabkov.

There are weapons, there is a training ground, many cartoons have been released, etc.
And somehow this doesn’t really scare them.
It seems that the problem here is with our generals and ministers.

[bullfight]

It's probably about the country's authority. I remember when I was a kid. My father was watching something on TV. There was a reception for ambassadors at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Gromyko was at the oval table. The ringmaster, or whoever was there instead of Zakharova, announced the standard formula: "In the name of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."
I still remember the scraping of chairs on the parquet floor when all the ambassadors stood up. All of them! Goosebumps...

[carpenter]

Quote: ximkim

There are weapons, there is a training ground, many cartoons have been released, etc.

Until "Oreshnik" hit, they thought it was all "Putin's cartoons", but it turned out that there was that weapon, and not the cartoon.

[Alexey Lantukh]

There is also the Yavoriv testing ground in the Lviv region near Poland. That's where they could test nuclear weapons, and a more powerful charge, and in an easterly wind. There would definitely be an effect, especially if the explosion was on the ground.

[RuAbel]

Well, how many signals are we going to send them? Well, they're stupid, they don't understand hints.

[Huarabey]

This is the very case when there was no need to chat at all, but just take and carry out these tests.

[Ezekiel 25-17]

Zelensky invited everyone to try it on Nenka.

[maiman61]

I don't see any sense in nuclear explosions at all! In the satanic newspaper "New York Times", they described Russia as a dog, barks but doesn't bite! So what if we bark on Novaya Zemlya once again for the amusement of the satanic West? But if we wiped the weapons hubs in Poland and Romania into dust, the satanists would start to fear us!

[Vasya_2]

it later.
First Poseidon in the direction of England. ...and London goodbye.

Can you imagine what would happen on stock exchanges around the world?

[Alexey Lantukh]

Poseidon in the direction of England. ...and London goodbye

For now, Poseidon is a mythical weapon. Yes, and the power of Poseidon's charge will not cause a tsunami.

[alexoff]

You know, there are more children of our MPs in London than in Russia. Our daughter of a former MP from the State Duma Defense Committee lives there. And her ex-husband, who stole money for the Altair drone, also lives there.

[Vasya_2]

and the hazelnut was tested in vain. Now, wherever they hit it, they'll immediately blame Russia...
and Poseidon, no one knows. - who knows what went boom there, maybe their submarine? ...and caused a tsunami.

[ximkim]

Quote: bullfight

It's probably about the country's authority. I remember when I was a kid. My father was watching something on TV. There was a reception for ambassadors at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Gromyko was at the oval table. The ringmaster, or whoever was there instead of Zakharova, announced the standard formula: "In the name of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."
I still remember the scraping of chairs on the parquet floor when all the ambassadors stood up. All of them! Goosebumps...

That's how they gave the country such authority.
General.
The entire government must undergo a medical examination, and many will immediately be sent into retirement due to health reasons.

[Practitioner23354df]

Quote: ximkim

Many will be sent into retirement due to health reasons.

Physical or mental? Or both?

[bullfight]

Who are they?
-What did you have in that barn?
-It was a village club, but it was closed.
- Why did they close it?
- And they fought there every day.
-Who are "They"?
-We.

[ximkim]

Quote: carpenter

Quote: ximkim

There are weapons, there is a training ground, many cartoons have been released, etc.

Until "Oreshnik" hit, they thought it was all "Putin's cartoons", but it turned out that there was that weapon, and not the cartoon.

But.
There is one unpleasant one - Yuzhmash was hit by a simple missile.
Did someone run away there?
It seems not.
As they say there, they clean the fish from the tail.
It was necessary to strike at the stations where wheel pairs with warheads were changed.
Then there was an effect, and there were fewer enemies.
So far we are only breeding them.

[navigator777]

Yes, only with the start of testing, it will be possible to put an end to Putin's international Northern Sea Route project, no sane person will sail near a nuclear test site

[ximkim]

Quote: navigator777

Yes, only with the start of testing, it will be possible to put an end to Putin's international Northern Sea Route project, no sane person will sail near a nuclear test site

In any case, a cross.
But.
After all, it was possible to make it so that Ukrainian producers would bear the cross.
But for now it's the other way around.

[bullfight]

I haven't been here for a long time. Lots of questions. One of them is: are you just clowns or something, along with the staff captain?

[Alexander Igorevich Rifeev]

If only there was something to test... But according to rumors, nuclear warheads were tested twice in 2022, but they were unsuccessful... Not long ago, the US and the USSR conducted dozens of nuclear tests. But why? After all, new nuclear weapons were not created every year. So they created a new nuclear charge and tested it - it exploded... And why then conduct tests again - to dispel doubts about the combat effectiveness of the new weapon? No, they tested nuclear weapons of old models produced in a certain year - they took a nuclear weapon from a series produced in a certain year - if it worked - the series of weapons remained on combat duty or in storage, and if it did not work - the entire series of that year was removed from combat duty or removed from storage and sent for disposal. They drew attention to the fact that some of the nuclear weapons exploded with minimal power - this is how our newspapers officially reported. But in reality, such an allegedly “unsuccessful” or declared low-yield test passed a sentence on the entire series of nuclear weapons released in the same year as the failed test.
----
And since combat nuclear weapons tests are prohibited, why not conduct so-called peaceful nuclear explosions? ... That's what the USSR did. For example, to create underground gas storage facilities near the city of Astrakhan, 35 km north of the city, on October 18, 1982, four underground nuclear explosions with a capacity of 46-46 kt were carried out under the Vega program. The first on October 18.10.1982, 9 at 00-1050 at a depth of 9 meters, the second at 05-1100 at a depth of 9 meters, the third at 10-990 at a depth of 9 meters, the fourth at 15-975 at a depth of 24 meters. And on September 1983, 8, to the north of the city of Astrakhan, similar explosions (six in total) under the Vega program were repeated at 00-8, 05-8, 10-8, 15-8, 20-8, 25-21 with the same power and at the same depths. On July 1984, 140, 6 km to the east of the city of Uralsk, to create underground gas storage facilities under the Lira program, three nuclear explosions were carried out at 00-6, 05-6, 10-850 at a depth of 850, 960, 27 meters. On October 1984, 9, under the Vega program, to the north of the city of Astrakhan, two more nuclear explosions were carried out at 00-9 and 05-850 at depths of 950 and 2022 meters with the above-mentioned power to create underground gas storage facilities. And now, by detonating a couple of nuclear charges, we would create several underground gas storage facilities, which are not at all superfluous for us. At the same time, we would set the brains of the "hawks" from the West back in place. Which is even more profitable. But nothing of the sort has happened. There were, however, rumors that in the summer of XNUMX they tried to test nuclear weapons twice. Both times unsuccessfully. And, apparently, it is no coincidence that our president has repeatedly called and is calling again on the West and Ukraine to hold peace talks...

[Alexander Igorevich Rifeev]

The parrot said to the parrot: “Parrot, I’ll scare you!” The parrot answered the parrot: - Parrot, parrot, parrot...
-
Recently, in connection with the situation with the Northern Military District and the confrontation with the USA, NATO, the EU and the Western world, the idea of ​​the possibility of war with the use of nuclear weapons has been very persistently promoted in Russian society on all politicized GAV-GAV shows on domestic TV. It is assumed that victory in such a war will certainly be ours. Both officials and all propaganda figures hint about this. So the colonel, with a very sonorous surname, constantly flashing on the Rossiya-1 TV channel and Vesti FM radio, often pleases us with the idea of ​​digging a channel named after him between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across North America. Stalin." Previously, he was an ardent anti-Stalinist and a hater of the socialist past, but suddenly he suddenly changed his color, became an admirer of the former USSR, and more than once positively mentioned the name of Stalin and his methods in politics and state building. We’ll leave the idea of ​​using nuclear weapons to him for his own narcissism and PR. And let’s approach the issue of using nuclear weapons without the foolishness and emotions of propaganda lackeys, who are only there to fool the Russian plebs and electorate. Let's try to find out what is left for us from the former capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces of the lost Soviet Union? Moreover, politicians and statesmen of Western countries are clearly not afraid of the consequences of a war with the Russian Federation, even with the use of nuclear weapons. And all the hints about the horrors of a nuclear war from our officialdom and propaganda no longer make any impression on them, as before - during the times of the USSR. And why? Apparently that's why...
-
Some basic information from the physics of nuclear processes and nuclear weapons technology
-
Uranium nuclear charges have the so-called. PNI – pulsed neutron initiator. At the moment the uranium reaction begins, INI increases the neutron content in the charge several times. This is why uranium ammunition explodes. Without INI, the uranium charge would be destroyed, since the fission reaction would proceed more slowly than necessary. And the warhead would simply collapse from heating, and a nuclear explosion would not occur. With the use of INI, the chain reaction outpaces the thermal destruction of the uranium warhead. Strontium IRIs were used in uranium warheads. The warranty period for 100% response of the strontium INI is about 12 years. At the beginning of the existence of atomic weapons, the INIs were radon; the warranty period for 100% operation of the radon INIs was 6 months. In uranium warheads there is a gradual increase in the activity of U-233 and U-232. The U-232 increases its activity tens of times; when trying to detonate such a uranium warhead, it will not explode normally - thermal destruction of the warhead will occur, since the U-232 will react faster than the U-235. The service life of a uranium warhead is no more than 30 years due to the multiple increase in the activity of U-232. After this period, the uranium warhead loses its ability to operate 100% normally.
-
In plutonium warheads, a chain reaction is constantly going on - albeit very slowly. Plutonium - P-239 gradually turns into plutonium P-240. Therefore, all plutonium warheads require constant cooling (if overheated, a plutonium warhead loses the ability to explode properly - because the calculated geometric shape of the warhead is violated). When the amount of P-240 reaches 6%, the plutonium warhead ceases to be capable of exploding normally (this is why energy-grade plutonium produced at nuclear power plants cannot be used as weapons-grade plutonium - in energy-grade plutonium the P-240 content reaches 20% of the total amount). This time in powerful plutonium warheads ranges from 15 to 18 years. In low-power plutonium charges – from 9 months to 4 years. There is also a gradual and inevitable poisoning of the warhead with various harmful isotopes, for example, americium A-241, which arise during a slowly occurring chain reaction in the warhead. When a certain amount of A-241 is reached, the warhead loses its ability to explode normally. Plutonium warheads also use INI. Without them, the plutonium warhead will be destroyed - P-240 plutonium will begin to react faster than P-239 plutonium and the warhead will be destroyed by heating. And for this reason, a normal - standard nuclear explosion will not happen, there will only be a scattering of radioactive material over a small area. INI makes it possible to overtake the uncontrolled chain reaction of thermal destruction of the warhead. In plutonium warheads, IRI based on deuterium-tritium was used. The warranty period for 100% response of such an INI is 10 years. As already noted, the service life of a powerful plutonium warhead is no more than 18 years. After this period, the plutonium warhead loses its ability to operate 100% normally.
-
All our nuclear explosive devices have plutonium-uranium warheads. 1990 years have passed since the production of the last nuclear warheads, which was stopped in 91-30. The last ton of weapons-grade uranium, pre-processed into low-enriched uranium, was exported from Russia back in 2013. But they didn’t produce anything new. Weapons-grade plutonium ceased production back in 1989-90. Until 1994, a small batch of weapons-grade plutonium was produced for the so-called. “rejuvenation” of previously released plutonium warheads. Then all reactors producing weapons-grade plutonium were stopped, except for one, which was operating in power mode. The reactor was finally shut down in 2009.
-
Back in 1994, the USA, England, France, and Russia concluded an agreement to stop the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. The PRC did not sign the treaty, but committed to comply with it. Israel also did not sign the treaty, but stopped the production of nuclear weapons in 2004, reserving the right to resume its production if necessary. India, Pakistan, and North Korea, of course, did not sign the agreement. This agreement is of unlimited duration, its validity began in 1997. But in the USSR, the production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium was stopped under M. Gorbachev. None of the signatories announced their withdrawal from the agreement. The population of Russia knows very little about it; the vast majority do not even suspect its existence. Everyone is sure that the Russian Federation is still a nuclear power.

[ximkim]

Quote: bullfight

I haven't been here for a long time. Lots of questions. One of them is: are you just clowns or something, along with the staff captain?

You're not trying hard enough.
More questions.

[bullfight]

Personally, I have no questions for you. Everything is clear. You are against my country. I have a number of questions for the moderators. What the hell are clowns from the Central Security Service like this captain doing on your channel?

[ximkim]

Quote: bullfight

Personally, I have no questions for you. Everything is clear. You are against my country. I have a number of questions for the moderators. What the hell are clowns from the Central Security Service like this captain doing on your channel?

Be healthy.
Don't act weird anymore.