List of nuclear tests

The following is a list of nuclear test series designations, organized first by country and then by date. For more information on countries with nuclear weapons, see List of countries with nuclear weapons. For more information on nuclear weapon arsenals, see List of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear tests by known nuclear countries

United States of America

The flagicon|USA United States conducted around 1,054 nuclear tests (by official count) between 1945 and 1992. Most of the tests took place at the Nevada Test Site and the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands. Ten other tests took place at various locations in the United States, including Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

1945–1963

North Korea

On October 9, 2006 it was announced by North Korea they had conducted a nuclear test in North Hamgyong province on the northeast coast at 10:36 AM (11:30 AEST). There was a 3.58 magnitude earthquake reported in South Korea. There was a 4.2 magnitude tremor detected 240 miles north of P'yongyang. The low estimates on the yield of the test — potentially less than a kiloton in strength — have led to speculation as to whether it was a fizzle (unsuccessful test), or a genuine "nuclear" test at all.

Alleged tests

There have been a number of significant alleged/disputed/unacknowledged accounts of countries testing nuclear explosives. Their status is either not certain or entirely disputed by most mainstream experts.

Japan

There is a disputed report about the Japanese atomic program being able to test a nuclear weapon in Korea on August 12 1945, a few days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and three days before the Japanese surrender on August 15, but this is seen as being highly unlikely by mainstream historians. See Japanese atomic program for more information.

Israel/South Africa

In what is known as the Vela Incident, Israel and/or South Africa may have detonated a nuclear device on September 22, 1979 in the Indian Ocean, according to satellite data. It is not certain whether there was actually a test, also it is not known who would have been responsible for it. See Vela Incident for more information.

North Korea

On September 9, 2004 it was reported by South Korean media that there had been a large explosion at the Chinese/North Korean border. This explosion left a crater visible by satellite and precipitated a large (2 mile diameter) mushroom cloud. The United States and South Korea quickly downplayed this, explaining it away as a forest fire that had nothing to do with the DPRK's nuclear weapons program. See Ryanggang explosion for more information.

Germany

"Hitlers Bombe", a book published in German by the historian Rainer Karlsch in 2005, has alleged that there is evidence that Nazi Germany performed some sort of test of a "nuclear device" (a hybrid fusion device unlike any modern nuclear weapons) in March 1945, though the evidence for this has not yet been fully evaluated, and has been doubted by many historians.

Tests of live warheads on rockets

Missiles and nuclear warheads have usually been tested separately, because testing them together is considered highly dangerous (they are the most extreme type of live fire exercise). The only US live test of an operational missile was the following:
*Frigate Bird — on May 6, 1962, a UGM-27 Polaris A-1 missile with a live 600 kt W47 warhead was launched from the USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608); it flew 1900 km, re-entered the atmosphere, and detonated at an altitude of 3.4 km over the South Pacific. The test was part of Operation Dominic I. Planned as a method to dispel doubts about whether the USA's nuclear missiles would actually function in practice, it had less effect than was hoped, as the stockpile warhead was substantially modified prior to testing, and the missile tested was a relatively low-flying SLBM and not a high-flying ICBM.

Other live tests with the nuclear explosive delivered by rocket by the USA include:
*Operation Argus — three tests
*On August 1, 1958, Redstone rocket #CC50 launched nuclear test Teak that detonated at an altitude of 77.8-km. On August 12, 1958, Redstone #CC51 launched nuclear test Orange to a detonation altitude of 43 km. Both were part of Operation Hardtack and had a yield of 3.75 Mt
*On July 9, 1962, Thor missile 195 launched a Mk4 reentry vehicle containing a W49 thermonuclear warhead to an altitude of 248 miles (400 km). The warhead detonated with a yield of 1.45 Mt. This was the Starfish Prime event of nuclear test operation Dominic-Fishbowl
*In the same series in 1962: Checkmate, Bluegill, Kingfish, and Tightrope

The Soviet Union tested a number of nuclear explosives on rockets as part of their development of a localised anti-ballistic missile system in the 1960s.

List of most powerful nuclear tests

The following incomplete list contains nuclear tests conducted with a yield of over 10 Mt TNT.

Sources: http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovatmtest.html

External links

* [http://www.downwinders.org DOWNWINDERS: We're All Downwinders Now]
* [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/nuclear/usnuctests.htm United States Nuclear Tests July 1945 through September 1992]
* [http://www.ga.gov.au/oracle/nukexp_form.jsp Australian Government — Geoscience Australia — database of nuclear explosions since 1945]

References