Semipalatinsk-21

To test the bombs, a site was chosen in Kazakhstan, a large region in central Russia. A small settlement was built near the site and named after a post office box in the nearby town of Semipalatinsk.

Before any of the tests, the Soviets would construct common structures around the site to examine the destructive power of the bomb. They built buildings, houses, and even a length of subway to see how they held up under a nuclear blast. Military equipment was also placed around the test site, and archive film shows how it was tossed about after the explosion. To test the effects on living creatures, live animals were placed inside buildings and outside in pens.

Both atomic and thermonuclear bombs were tested at the site for several years.

After Kurchatov's death, the small settlement near the test site was renamed "Kurchatov."