Test field

The experimental field was the epicenter of the first and most destructive nuclear tests in the USSR. It was here, on August 29, 1949, that the first nuclear explosion in the Soviet Union took place—marking the beginning of the "atomic era" in the USSR and becoming a turning point in world history..

The experimental field is the central part of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, specially prepared for atmospheric, surface, and tower nuclear tests. The entire area was divided into sectors, each containing specific observation objects: residential buildings, equipment, animals, and dummies—all used to study the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

The site hosted tests on concrete and iron platforms, explosions on metal towers up to 30 meters high, surface and underground detonations

The project was overseen by a Special Committee headed by Lavrentiy Beria, who reported directly to Joseph Stalin.

On August 21, 1949, a special train delivered a plutonium charge and four neutron fuses to the test site. One of them was intended for the detonation itself. The RDS-1 test was scheduled for August 29 at 8:00 a.m. local time.

The charge was assembled overnight between August 28 and 29, and final assembly was completed by 3:00 a.m. The next three hours were spent installing the charge at the top of the 30-meter metal tower and connecting it to the detonation circuit.

An entire "open-air laboratory" was created around the tower, where every component served a single purpose—to study the destructive power of nuclear weapons. Reinforced concrete fortifications, armored turrets, and pillboxes were erected here. Military equipment—artillery guns, tanks, aircraft, automobiles, and armored vehicles—was positioned at various distances from the future epicenter.

Animals like sheeps, pigs, dogs, and rats were housed in specially constructed shelters to assess the explosion's effects on living organisms. A little further away, an entire 'test town' was constructed: three-story residential buildings, industrial buildings, a section of an underground metro, railway tracks, and road bridges with fueld trains and cars.

Dummies in military uniforms and crates of food were placed across the steppe, simulating real battle conditions. All of this was created to record the consequences of the future explosion in minute detail.

Due to deteriorating weather conditions, Kurchatov decided to postpone the explosion from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 AM. At 6:35 a.m., the operators turned on the power to the automatic system, and at 6:48 a.m., the test field's automatic switch was activated.

On August 29, 1949, at 7:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. Moscow time), the first nuclear explosion in the USSR took place. The explosion produced a flash 'many times brighter than the sun'.

20 minutes after the explosion, two lead-shielded tanks headed toward the epicenter - their crews were conducting radiation reconnaissance and field surveys. A huge crater now gaped where the turret had once been, and the soil in the center had melted and turned into a hard, shiny crust.

Civilian buildings and industrial facilities in the test zone were completely destroyed or seriously damaged. The blast wave scattered animals across the steppe, overturned vehicles, and scattered debris for tens of meters.

Do you wnat to see what the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site looked like?

The documentary movie «Experiment at Test Site № 2» (directed by Anatoly Chelakov and Dmitry Bogolepov) contains unique footage that remained classified for many years. It was filmed in 1949 specifically for showing it to J.V. Stalin and other top leaders of the USSR. Only decades later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the movie was made available for the public.

In this half an hour movie, you will learn how the Experimental Field was prepared for the first atomic bomb explosion: the construction of engineering structures, the deployment of military equipment, the installation of instruments, and the housing of test animals. And eventually - the devastating nuclear explosion, filmed from various distances and angles...
And finally, the horrific aftermath - what happened to equipment, buildings, and living creatures after the shock wave and radiation.

This is not just a movie - it is a glimpse into the era when humanity first realized the destructive power of the atom.