Rare Footage Shows Russia Detonating Nuclear Weapon To Create A New Lake

[DemolitionMan]

By Trevor Nace

This rare footage from the former Soviet Union shows the detonation of a nuclear bomb to create what is now called the "Atomic Lake."
The Soviet nuclear test, called Chagan, was conducted in January 1965 at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. The footage shows the largest detonation of 124 conducted by the Soviet Union. This was part of the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program, enacted to try to find peaceful and economic reasons to detonate nuclear weapons.
The plan was to create artificial lakes and canals and to deepen harbors with nuclear detonations. The nuclear weapon detonated here was equivalent to 140 kilotons of TNT. The location was a dry river bed from the nearby Chagan River, which the Soviet Union hoped to fill the newly formed lake from partially diverting the Chagan River. A 584 feet deep hole was dug into the surface of the lake bed, and the nuclear weapon was lowered into the ground before detonation.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpNOhwGz0sk

https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/25/rare-footage-russia-detonating-nuclear-weapon-create-new-lake/#26317de836d2

[DemolitionMan]

The lake is still radioactive and there's ongoing research as to how dangerous the lake is to human health. Grass has grown around the lake but the area is fairly desolate

[Frank Cannon]

The lake is still radioactive and there's ongoing research as to how dangerous the lake is to human health. Grass has grown around the lake but the area is fairly desolate

So you're sayin' it's a great place to fish?

[DemolitionMan]

So you're sayin' it's a great place to fish?

Not a good place. I wonder the person diving into water had radiation poisoning afterward.

[Frank Cannon]