Soviets Trigger Nuclear Explosion at Test Site
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From Associated Press
MOSCOW — The Soviet Union on Saturday detonated a nuclear explosion with a force of 20 kilotons at a test site in Soviet Central Asia, the official Tass news agency said.
Tass said the blast was set off at 8:17 a.m. at Semipalitinsk in Kazakhstan, 1,700 miles southeast of Moscow, “to perfect military equipment.”
It said there was “an insignificant, brief rise in the radiation background” inside the test zone. Radiation levels outside the test range were normal, Tass said.
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