Editing Soviet atomic bomb project (section)

== Environmental and public health effects ==
{{furtherinfo|Totskoye nuclear exercise|Kyshtym disaster|Chernobyl disaster|Andreev Bay nuclear accident}}
[[File:Tchernobyl bois arbres radioactivité cernes2 modifié-1.jpg|300px|thumb|The former Soviet [[nuclear fission|nuclear devices]] left behind large amounts of radioactive isotopes, which have contaminated air, water, and soil in the areas immediately surrounding them, enough to double the normal rate of [[Carbon-14|<sup>14</sup>C]] from the atmosphere, and due to the increase in biomass and necromass.<ref name="nucleartest">Norris, Robert S., and Thomas B. Cochran. "Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions by the Soviet Union: August 29, 1949, to October 24, 1990." Natural Resource Defense Council. Web. 19 May 2013.</ref>{{rp|1}}]]
[[File:Laboratory_B_warning_sign.jpg|right|thumb|267x267px|The ''Radioaktivnost'''  warning sign left at the now-ruined and abandoned [[Laboratory B in Sungulʹ]], ca. 2009.]]
The Soviets started experimenting with nuclear technology in 1943 with very little regard of [[nuclear safety]] as there were no reports of accidents that were ever made public to learn from, and the public was kept in ignorance about the radiation dangers.{{rp|24–25}}<ref name="Greenwood Publishing Group, Neimanis, 1997">{{cite book |last1=Neimanis |first1=George J. |title=The Collapse of the Soviet Empire: A View from Riga |date=1997 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0275957131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlLSpT9J_yMC&dq=kurchatov+father+of+atom&pg=PA24 |access-date=6 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Many of the [[nuclear fission|nuclear devices]] left behind radioactive isotopes which have contaminated air, water and soil in the areas immediately surrounding, downwind and downstream of the blast site. According to the records that the Russian government released in 1991, the Soviet Union tested 969 nuclear devices between 1949 and 1990— more nuclear testing than any nation on the planet.<ref name="nucleartest" />{{rp|1}} Soviet scientists conducted the tests with little regard for environmental and public health consequences.{{rp|24}}<ref name="Greenwood Publishing Group, Neimanis, 1997" /> The detrimental effects that the toxic waste generated by weapons testing and processing of radioactive materials are still felt to this day. Even decades later, the risk of developing various types of cancer, especially that of the [[thyroid cancer|thyroid]] and the [[lung cancer|lungs]], continues to be elevated far above national averages for people in affected areas.<ref name="legacy">{{cite journal | last1 = Goldman | first1 = Marvin | year = 1997 | title = The Russian Radiation Legacy: Its Integrated Impact and Lessons | journal = Environmental Health Perspectives | volume = 105 | issue = 6| pages = 1385–1391 | doi=10.2307/3433637| jstor = 3433637 | pmc = 1469939 | pmid=9467049}}</ref>{{rp|1385}} [[Iodine-131]], a [[radionuclide|radioactive isotope]] that is a major byproduct of fission-based weapons, is retained in the thyroid gland, and so poisoning of this kind is commonplace in impacted populations.<ref name="legacy" />{{rp|1386}}

The Soviets set off 214 nuclear devices in the [[Atmospheric nuclear testing|open atmosphere]] between 1949 and 1963, the year the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] came into effect (there were no Soviet tests in 1950, 1959, 1960, or 1962).<ref name=nucleartest />{{rp|6}} The billions of radioactive particles released into the air exposed countless people to extremely mutagenic and carcinogenic materials, resulting in a myriad of deleterious genetic maladies and deformities. The majority of these tests took place at the [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]], or the Polygon, located in northeast of Kazakhstan.<ref name=nucleartest />{{rp|61}} The testing at Semipalatinsk alone exposed hundreds of thousands of Kazakh citizens to these harmful effects, and the site continues to be one of the most highly irradiated places on the planet.<ref name="cold">{{Cite journal |last=Clay |first=R |date=April 2001 |title=Cold war, hot nukes: legacy of an era. |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=A162–A169 |issn=0091-6765 |pmc=1240291 |pmid=11335195 |doi=10.2307/3454880|jstor=3454880 }}</ref>{{rp|A167}} When the earliest tests were being conducted, even the scientists had only a poor understanding of the medium-and long-term effects of radiation exposure - many did not notify each other of their work if they had serious accidents or radiation exposure.{{rp|24}}<ref name="Greenwood Publishing Group, Neimanis, 1997"/> In fact, the Semipalatinsk was chosen as the primary site for open-air testing precisely because the Soviets were curious about the potential for lasting harm that their weapons held.<ref name=legacy />{{rp|1389}}{{Failed verification|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Chernobyl radiation map 1996.svg|thumb|250px|right|The 1996 level of [[Cesium-137]] contamination over Ukraine after an unsafe operation led to a [[Chernobyl disaster|serious accident]] in 1986.]]
Contamination of air and soil due to atmospheric testing is only part of a wider issue. Water contamination due to improper disposal of spent [[uranium]] and decay of sunken nuclear-powered submarines is a major problem in the [[Kola Peninsula]] in northwest Russia. Although the Russian government states that the radioactive power cores are stable, various scientists have come forth with serious concerns about the 32,000 spent nuclear fuel elements that remain in the sunken vessels.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A166}} There have been no major incidents other than the [[Kursk submarine disaster|explosion and sinking of a nuclear-powered submarine]] in August 2000, but many international scientists are still uneasy at the prospect of the hulls eroding, releasing uranium into the sea and causing considerable contamination.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A166}} Although the submarines pose an environmental risk, they have yet to cause serious harm to public health. However, water contamination in the area of the [[Mayak test site]], especially at [[Lake Karachay]], is extreme, and has gotten to the point where radioactive byproducts have found their way into drinking water supplies. It has been an area of concern since the early 1950s, when the Soviets began disposing of tens of millions of cubic meters of [[radioactive waste]] by pumping it into the small lake.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A165}} Half a century later, in the 1990s, there are still hundreds of millions of curies of waste in the Lake, and at points contamination has been so severe that a mere half-hour of exposure to certain regions would deliver a dose of radiation sufficient to kill 50% of humans.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A165}} Although the area immediately surrounding the lake is devoid of population, the lake has the potential to dry up in times of drought. Most significantly, in 1967, it dried up and winds carried radioactive dust over thousands of square kilometers, exposing at least 500,000 citizens to a range of health risks.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A165}} To control dust, Soviet scientists piled concrete on top of the lake. Although this was effective in helping mediate the amount of dust, the weight of the concrete pushed radioactive materials into closer contact with standing underground groundwater.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A166}} It is difficult to gauge the overall health and environmental effects of the water contamination at Lake Karachay because figures on civilian exposure are unavailable, making it hard to show causation between elevated cancer rates and radioactive pollution specifically from the lake.

Contemporary efforts to manage radioactive contamination in the former Soviet Union are few and far between. Public awareness of the past and present dangers, as well as the Russian government's investment in current cleanup efforts, are likely dampened by the lack of media attention STS and other sites have gotten in comparison to isolated nuclear incidents such as [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima]], [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl]] and [[Three Mile Island accident|Three-Mile Island]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Taylor | first = Jerome | title = The World's Worst Radiation Hotspot | newspaper = The Independent | publisher = Independent Digital News and Media | date = 10 Sep 2009 }}.</ref> The domestic government's investment in cleanup measures seems to be driven by economic concerns rather than care for public health. The most significant political legislation in this area is a bill agreeing to turn the already contaminated former weapons complex Mayak into an international [[radioactive waste]] dump, accepting cash from other countries in exchange for taking their radioactive byproducts of nuclear industry.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A167}} Although the bill stipulates that the revenue go towards decontaminating other test sites such as Semipalatinsk and the Kola Peninsula, experts doubt whether this will actually happen given the current [[Politics of Russia|political]] and [[Economy of Russia|economic]] climate in Russia.<ref name="cold" />{{rp|A168}}