00:00250 nuclear explosions.
00:02That's what the USSR planned to dig a canal.
00:05They wanted to connect the Pechora and Kama rivers
00:08to redirect the water flow into the Volga
00:10and then into the shrinking Caspian Sea to save it from drying up.
00:13The project was called Taiga,
00:15and instead of using traditional tools,
00:17they planned to dig the canals with nuclear explosions.
00:20In 1971, they launched the first stage of the project
00:24with three simultaneous underground nuclear explosions,
00:27each 15 kilotons in power.
00:29As a result, a canal 700 meters long
00:32and 380 meters wide was formed.
00:34Scientists were convinced that the test was safe.
00:37However, the radioactive fallout spread beyond the borders of the USSR,
00:42resulting in widespread environmental pollution
00:44and triggering a strong negative global reaction.
00:47So the project was shut down.
00:49The site of those three explosions eventually became a lake,
00:52later named Nuclear Lake.
00:54Even today, it still has elevated radiation levels.
00:57Not deadly, but definitely not a place to swim.
01:00Not deadly, but definitely not a place to swim.
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