The Soviet Union's 1981 nuclear test series was a group of 21 nuclear tests conducted in 1981. These testsA bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points and does not exceed 40 kilometers in length". followed the 1980 Soviet nuclear tests series and preceded the 1982 Soviet nuclear tests series.

+ Soviet Union's 1981 series tests and detonations Name The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known. Date time (UT) Local time zoneTo convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database. LocationRough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area. Elevation + height Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together. Delivery,Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.Purpose Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down. DeviceDesignations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed. YieldEstimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie). FalloutRadioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released. References Notes 567

ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 603-pp + tunnel,safety experiment

568 - 1 04:03:52.58 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1234 + underground shaft,weapons development

568 - 2 04:03:52.6 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1234 + underground shaft,fundamental science

568 - 3 04:03:52.6 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1234 + underground shaft,fundamental science

569 - 1 01:17:13.91 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1232 + underground shaft,weapons development

569 - 2 01:17:13.9 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1232 + underground shaft,weapons development

569 - 3 01:17:13.9 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1232 + underground shaft,weapons development

570 Pirit (Pyrite) 05:00:00.3 KRAT (7 hrs) Nenetsky, Russia – underground shaft,extinguishing oil/gas fires

Gas fire shaft closure. 571 03:58:14.88 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1203 + underground shaft,weapons development

572

ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 603-pp + tunnel,safety experiment

573 - 1 01:57:15.34 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 187 + tunnel,weapons development

573 - 2 01:57:15.3 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 187 + tunnel,weapons development

574 02:37:18.12 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 106 – tunnel,weapons development

575 - 1 02:27:15.24 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 184 + tunnel,weapons development

575 - 2 02:27:15.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 184 + tunnel,weapons development

575 - 3 02:27:15.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 184 + tunnel,weapons development

576 Geliy 1 (Helium) 04:00:00.0 SVET (5 hrs) Perm, Russia: 401 – underground shaft,oil stimulation

Oil recovery intensification.170 km NE Bereznyaki. 577 02:17:20.84 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1233 + underground shaft,weapons development

578 Vega 4T 05:00:00.3 VOLT (4 hrs) Astrakhan, Russia: 4T/2 – underground shaft,cavity excavation

Create reservoirs for gas storage. 35 km N Astrakhan. 579 Vega 2T 05:03:59.9 VOLT (4 hrs) Astrakhan, Russia: 2T/2 – underground shaft,cavity excavation

Create reservoirs for gas storage. 35 km N Astrakhan. 580 - 1 12:14:57.23 MSK (3 hrs) NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-23 – tunnel,weapons development

580 - 2 12:14:57.2 MSK (3 hrs) NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-23 + tunnel,weapons development

580 - 3 12:14:57.2 MSK (3 hrs) NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-23 + tunnel,weapons development

580 - 4 12:14:57.2 MSK (3 hrs) NZ Area B, Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya, Russia: A-23 + tunnel,weapons development

581

ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 136-pp + tunnel,safety experiment

582 - 1 03:57:05.22 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1236 + underground shaft,weapons development

582 - 2 03:57:05.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1236 + underground shaft,weapons development

583 Shpat 2 (Spar) 14:00:00.4 KRAT (7 hrs) Krasnoyarsk, Russia: ShP-2 – underground shaft,seismic sounding

Gas extraction intensification. 140 km W Tura, Krasnoyarsk. 584 - 1 04:57:05.07 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 103 + tunnel,weapons development

584 - 2 04:57:05.1 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 103 + tunnel,weapons development

585 - 1 03:35:11.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1237 + underground shaft,weapons development

585 - 2 03:35:11.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1237 + underground shaft,weapons development

585 - 3 03:35:11.2 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1237 + underground shaft,weapons development

586 - 1 04:31:05.27 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 135 + tunnel,weapons development

586 - 2 04:31:05.3 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 135 + tunnel,weapons development

586 - 3 04:31:05.3 ALMT (6 hrs) Degelen, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 135 + tunnel,weapons development

587 03:43:16.72 ALMT (6 hrs) Balapan, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: 1312 + underground shaft,weapons development

References

The official Russian list of Soviet tests.