List of nuclear weapons tests

Badger explosion, Operation Upshot-Knothole (23 kT) - April 18, 1953 at 12:35 p.m.

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests . The table only contains prominent points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for test purposes. In addition to nuclear explosions in the true sense of the word, innumerable tests were carried out with nuclear weapons that intentionally or unintentionally did not explode.

Explanations of the respective construction of the atomic bombs - such as the Teller-Ulam design - can be found in the article Nuclear Weapons Technology .

American nuclear tests usually have a two-part name. Castle Bravo is about the Bravo atom test in the Castle series or Operation Castle .

The US 500th nuclear test took place in March 1970 at the Nevada Test Site , testing multiple warheads with a higher explosive force.

Chronological list (selection)

Name test series bomb	date	place	height	Country	Type	Explosive power	comment
Trinity	16 Jul 1945	White Sands Proving Grounds	30 m (steel frame)	United States	F. implosion	20-22 kT	first atomic test explosion ( plutonium -239 as fission material)
Crossroads Able	Jun 30, 1946	Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands, southwest of Hawaii)	160 m (free fall bomb)	United States	F.	23 kT	first test after World War II
Crossroads Baker	Jul 24, 1946	Bikini Atoll	-27 m (underwater)	United States	F.	23 kT	first underwater nuclear test
RDS-1 (First Lightning) Joe-1	29 Aug 1949	Semipalatinsk	30 m	USSR	F.	22 kT	first Soviet test
Greenhouse George	0May 8, 1951	Eniwetok Atoll (Marshall Islands, southwest of Hawaii)	61.5 m	United States	?	225 kT	first evidence of thermonuclear nuclear fusion
Hurricane	2nd Oct 1952	near the Montebello Islands , Australia	–2.7 m (inside the ship)	GB	?	25 kT	first British atomic bomb explosion
Ivy Mike	Oct 31, 1952	Eniwetok Atoll	3 m	United States	FF Teller-Ulam-Design	10.4 MT	first explosion with a significant proportion of nuclear fusion (23%) in the explosive force. First hydrogen bomb with a Teller-Ulam design
Ivy King	Nov 15, 1952	Eniwetok Atoll	450 m	United States	F.	500 kT	strongest nuclear fission- only bomb in the USA
Upshot Knothole Grable	May 25, 1953	Nevada Test Site	160 m	United States	F Gun	15 kT	first test of a nuclear artillery shell
RMS-6	Aug 12, 1953	?	?	USSR		400 kT	first hydrogen bomb of the USSR Soviet atomic bomb project
Castle Bravo	28th Feb 1954	Bikini Atoll	2 m	United States	FF plate Ulam	15 m	strongest American test explosion, first test with solid fusion material.
	Sep 14, 1954	Tozk (  Orenburg region )	350 m	USSR	?	40 kT	Test near inhabited area, 9th Soviet test
RDS-37	22nd Nov 1955	Semipalatinsk	? (Release)	USSR	FF plate Ulam	1.6 MT	first Soviet bomb with Teller-Ulam design
Redwing Zuni	May 27, 1956	Bikini Atoll	3 m	United States	FFF	3.5 MT	First test of an American thermonuclear bomb in a three-stage design
Grapple I Short Granite	May 15, 1957	Malden	2,400 m (drop)	GB	FF	200-300 kT	first British test of a hydrogen bomb , partial success
Plumbbob John	19 Jul 1957	Nevada Test Site	4,600 m	United States	?	1.7 kT	only nuclear weapon test with a nuclear air-to-air missile ( AIR-2 Genie )
Grapple X Grapple Y Grapple Z	08 Nov 1957	Kiritimati	2,400 m (drop)	GB	FF	1.8 m	British nuclear tests in the region ended on September 23, 1958
Hardtack I Yucca	28 Apr 1958	Eniwetok Atoll	26,000 m	United States	?	1.7 kT	Test for ABM weapons
AN-11 Gerboise Bleue	Feb 13, 1960	Reggane , Algeria	105.4 m	FRA	F.	60 kT	first French atomic bomb test
AN602 ( Tsar bomb )	Oct 30, 1961	Novaya Zemlya	~ 4,000 m	USSR	FF	50-58 MT	strongest nuclear explosion to date
Dominic I Frigate Bird	0May 6, 1962	Kiritimati	3,300 m	United States	?	600 kT	only US test with a weapon in service ( Polaris A1 missile with W47 Y1 warhead )
Dominic I Swordfish	May 11, 1962	Pacific , 741 km from San Diego	–200 m (underwater)	United States	?	<20 kT	fifth and final underwater explosion in the United States; Test of the ASROC missile for anti-submarine defense
Plowshare Storax Sedan	06 Jul 1962	Nevada Test Site	-193 m (underground)	United States	?	104 kT	Study of the opencast mining of raw materials. (→ Civil atomic explosives )
Dominic I Starfish Prime	09 Jul 1962	Johnston Atoll	400 km (space)	United States	?	<1.45 MT	Explosion in space
Dominic I Bluegill Triple Prime	26th Oct 1962	Johnston Atoll	49 km	United States	?	<1 MT	carried out in the "hot phase" of the Cuban Missile Crisis without knowledge of the Executive Committee ( Defense Condition 2 )
Fishbowl tightrope	04th Nov 1962	Johnston Atoll	~ 23 km	United States	?	<20 kT	last atmospheric test of the USA
?	25th Dec 1962	Novaya Zemlya	?	USSR	?	8.5 kT	last atmospheric test of the USSR
596	16th Oct 1964	Singkiang Uighur	102 m (tower)	People's Republic of China	?	22 kT	first Chinese test
Test No. 6th	17th Jun 1967	Lop Nur Test Base, Malan, Xinjiang	2,960 m	People's Republic of China	FF plate Ulam	3.3 MT	first Chinese hydrogen bomb
Aldébaran Canopus	28 Aug 1968	Fangataufa	550 m (1800 ft) (Balloon)	FRA	?	2.6 MT	first French hydrogen bomb
?	29th Sep 1969	?	?	People's Republic of China	?	~ 3 MT	first Chinese test with a hydrogen bomb in the atmosphere
Smiling Buddha	May 18, 1974	Rajasthan desert	-107 m (underground)	India	?	8-13 kT	first Indian test
Shakti	May 11, 1998	Jaisalmer (District)	Underground	India	FF	~ 60 kT	second Indian test
Chagai-I	May 28, 1998	Balochistan	Underground	Pakistan	FF	~ 40 kT	first Pakistani test, reaction to the Indian Shakti test
?	0Oct 9, 2006	Punggye-ri east side, Kilchu ( Hamgyŏng-pukto Province )	Underground	North Korea	?	depending on the estimate: 0.5 kT 5–15 kT	first North Korean test . Test may have failed. 4.1 magnitude earthquake under North Korea.
?	May 25, 2009	Punggye-ri West Side, Kilchu (Hamgyŏng-pukto Province)	Underground	North Korea	?	10-20 kT	second North Korean test. Obviously much more successful, as a serious explosive power was achieved for the first time. 4.52 magnitude earthquake beneath North Korea.
Pollux	05th Dec 2012	Nevada Test Site	Underground	United States	?	subcritical	currently last performed subcritical test. Such tests, according to the United States, do not violate the international nuclear test ban.
Nuclear weapons test in North Korea on January 6, 2016	06th Jan 2016	Punggye-ri, Kilchu (Hamgyŏng-pukto Province)	Underground	North Korea	?	?	fourth North Korean test, according to the North Korean news agency hydrogen bomb, this is doubted by experts. 5.1 magnitude earthquake under North Korea.
Nuclear weapons test in North Korea on September 3, 2017	03rd Sep 2017	Sungjibaegam	Underground	North Korea	?	80-120 kT	Another North Korean test registered a near-surface magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale, followed by two more collapse quakes

For comparison, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki :

Name bomb	date	place	height	Country	Type	Explosive power	comment
Little boy	0Aug 6, 1945	Hiroshima	~ 600 m	United States	F Gun	13 kT	first use of a nuclear weapon ( uranium -235 as a fission material)
Fat man	0Aug 9, 1945	Nagasaki	550 m	United States	F implosion	20 kT	second and so far last use of a nuclear weapon

Legend:

• kT: corresponds to kilotons of TNT
• MT: corresponds to megaton TNT
• Q: Fission
• FF: Fission-Fusion
• FFF: Fission-Fusion-Fission

Overview by country

Table by country

(As of September 4, 2017)

Number of nuclear tests worldwide by year and country

Country	Number of atom bomb attempts	Period from	to
France	0198	1960	1996
India	0003	1974	1998
North Korea	0006th	2006	2017
Pakistan	0002	1998	1998
Soviet Union	0718	1949	1990
United States	1039	1945	2012
United Kingdom	0045	1952	1991
People's Republic of China	0045	1964	1996
Worldwide	2056	1945	2017

United States

Nuclear Weapons Tests at the Nevada Test Site (NTS)

Above-ground nuclear weapon test with soldiers in the US state of Nevada on June 1, 1952 "Operation Tumbler-Snapper"

The US conducted 1,039 nuclear tests, 210 atmospheric tests, 815 underground tests, and 5 underwater tests between 1945 and 1992. Of these, 100 atmospheric tests and 804 underground tests were carried out on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) (approx. 37 ° N 116 ° W), some within sight of Las Vegas . Approx. 15 underground tests were unintentionally turned into aboveground, as the blast tore open the ground due to excessive explosive force. In 1962, with 98 US nuclear tests (two of which were with Great Britain), most were carried out in one year.

By May 1965, 123 nuclear tests had taken place as part of the Vela project .

1990 passed the US Congress with the so-called Radiation Exposure Compensation Act , a law on compensation for radiation victims caused by nuclear testing or during their work in uranium mines radiation damage suffered. As of 2010, this law granted over 22,000 claims totaling nearly $ 1.5 billion.

The last US test was in 1992. The National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Test Site was long shut down; However, if necessary, it was able to resume testing within 24 months.

The US continues to conduct subcritical testing at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). In these tests, the behavior of plutonium and highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapons is tested under shock conditions without any release of energy from nuclear reactions. The tests are carried out in an underground test field in hermetically sealed steel containers. These remain underground after the test. The US has conducted 27 such experiments since 1997. The last test, called Pollux, took place on December 12, 2012.

Soviet Union / Russia

The Soviet Union carried out its first atomic bomb test (" RDS-1 ") on Aug 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons test site (now Kazakhstan). Between 1949 and 1990 the Soviet Union carried out a total of 715 tests with 969 individual explosives. Of these attempts, 559 with 769 explosives were used in the military nuclear weapons program and can be categorized as follows:

• Nuclear weapons development: 445 tests with 637 explosive devices
• Nuclear effects study: 52 tests with 69 explosives
• Improving the security of nuclear weapons and investigating the behavior of nuclear weapons in emergencies: 25 attempts with 42 explosive devices
• Basic research: 36 experiments with 47 explosives
• Field exercise: 1 test with 1 explosive device

During the 715 tests, the weapons were ignited:

• In the air: 177 times
• On the surface of the earth: 32 times
• Underwater: 3 times
• At the sea surface: 2 times
• Underground: 496 times including 5 times in caverns .
• Not categorized / unknown: 5

The 211 atmospheric Soviet tests are compared to 496 underground tests. Five tests were found by Podvig et al. cannot be assigned

With few exceptions, the military tests were carried out on two test sites, the Semipalatinsk test site in the Kazakh SSR and the Novaya Zemlya test site in the Arctic Ocean of the Russian SFSR . With the collapse of the Soviet Union , the Semipalatinsk test site was closed. The Novaya Zemlya test site continues to be used by Russia. Russia itself has not carried out any nuclear weapons tests since the end of the Soviet Union, but uses Novaya Zemlya for subcritical nuclear experiments for its own nuclear weapons program.

Another 156 experiments with 173 individual explosives were part of the program for industrial explosions ( "peaceful nuclear explosions" ) and have been carried out since 1964. These can be classified as follows:

• seismic measurements : 39 attempts
• Creation of caverns to store gas and water: 35 explosions (including 10 experimental tests)
• Petroleum and natural gas stimulation: 21 attempts
• Earthmoving and crater creation: 12 attempts
• Fighting gas well fires: 5 attempts
• Ore extraction : 3 attempts
• Creation of caverns for disposal of petrochemical waste: 2 attempts
• Combating methane in a coal mine: 1 explosion
• Development of explosive devices for the industrial nuclear program: 38 tests

These tests were carried out on behalf of various ministries in the Soviet Union and were spread across the country.

France

A total of seventeen French nuclear weapons tests were carried out in Algeria , four of them above ground (in Reggane ) and thirteen underground (in In Ekker ). The remaining atomic bomb tests took place in French Polynesia.

Great Britain

Britain conducted its first nuclear test in 1952. Great Britain used test sites in Australia (12 tests), on Christmas Island (6 attempts) and on Malden Island (3 attempts). The last atmospheric test took place in 1958. In 1962, Great Britain allowed the US to run the Dominic test series on the Christmas Islands. Great Britain joined the ban on atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in 1962. All tests were then carried out underground in cooperation with the USA on the Nevada Test Site (24 tests), most recently in 1991. Great Britain carried out a total of 45 tests.

North Korea

→ Main article : North Korean nuclear weapons program

North Korea carried out six secured nuclear weapons tests in the course of its nuclear weapons program, one each in 2006, 2009, 2013, two in 2016 and one in 2017. It is controversial whether there was a test in 2010.

See also

• fallout

Web links

• Australian Government Nuclear Explosions Database
• 1945-1998 by Isao Hashimoto
• Sources of ionizing radiation, worldwide - Google Maps (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ February 13, 1960, la France teste sa bombe (French, video).
2. ^ Atomic danger of unknown magnitude. In: Der Spiegel . October 9, 2006 ( spiegel.de ).
3. ↑ Secret test facility for nuclear weapons - This is where North Korea ignites its atomic bomb. In: Focus . April 9, 2013 ( focus.de ) Retrieved April 10, 2013.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Holger Dambeck: Researcher analysis of the nuclear test: Kim's gun builders increase the explosive power. In: Der Spiegel . May 25, 2009 ( spiegel.de )
5. ↑ Kim ignites again - but with what? In: Frankfurter Rundschau . January 6, 2016 ( fr.de ).
6. ↑ North Korea reports successful hydrogen bomb test. January 6, 2016 ( spiegel.de ).
7. ↑ Nuclear test conducted by North Korea, country claims - CNN In: cnn.com , accessed September 8, 2017.
8. ↑ Radiation Exposure Compensation System Claims to Date Summary of Claims Received by 04/11/2010 (PDF; 41 kB). US Department of Justice website. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
9. ^ Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States - Final Report
10. ↑ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: Underground Explosions are Music to their ears.
11. ^ National Nuclear Security Administration - NNSA Conducts Pollux Subcritical Experiment at Nevada National Security Site ( Memento of March 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
12. ↑ Frank von Hippel: Explain This: Subcritical experiments. ( Memento of March 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 2012.
13. ↑ US Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office: United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992 ( Memento of October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), DOE / NV - 209-REV 15, December 2000, (PDF 877 kB) .
14. ^ Robert Standish Norris, Thomas B. Cochran: United States nuclear tests, July 1945 to 31 December 1992 (NWD 94-1) ( Memento of October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), Nuclear Weapons Databook Working Paper, Washington, DC: Natural Resources Defense Council, February 1, 1994, (PDF 4.26 MB).
15. ^ Gallery of US Nuclear Tests ( memento August 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) at nuclearweaponarchive.org.
16. ↑ ^{a b c} P. Podvig (Ed.): Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2004, ISBN 0-262-16202-4 .
17. ↑ Nuclear pursuits 2012 In: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.