Nuclear activities in the Arctic over the last 50 years

Description

Numerous nuclear explosions have taken place in the Arctic. One of the largest military nuclear testing facilities is on the island of Novaya Zemlya, where from 1955 through to 1990 the Soviet Union detonated 88 atmospheric, 29 underground, and 3 underwater nuclear devices. Dozens of civilian ‘peaceful nuclear explosions’ have also occurred in the Russian Arctic, where nuclear bombs were used into the late 1980’s for seismic studies, mining, and in attempts to extinguish oil-field fires.