Global Information Lookup Global Information

List of nuclear weapons tests information


The radiation warning symbol (trefoil).

Nuclear weapons testing is the act of experimentally and deliberately firing one or more nuclear devices in a controlled manner pursuant to a military, scientific or technological goal. This has been done on test sites on land or waters owned, controlled or leased from the owners by one of the eight nuclear nations: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea, or has been done on or over ocean sites far from territorial waters. There have been 2,121 tests done since the first in July 1945, involving 2,476 nuclear devices. As of 1993, worldwide, 520 atmospheric nuclear explosions (including 8 underwater) have been conducted with a total yield of 545 megaton (Mt): 217 Mt from pure fission and 328 Mt from bombs using fusion, while the estimated number of underground nuclear tests conducted in the period from 1957 to 1992 is 1,352 explosions with a total yield of 90 Mt.[1]

Very few unknown tests are suspected at this time, the Vela incident being the most prominent. Israel is the only country suspected of having nuclear weapons but not known to have ever tested any.

The following are considered nuclear tests:

  • single nuclear devices fired in deep horizontal tunnels (drifts) or in vertical shafts, in shallow shafts ("cratering"), underwater, on barges or vessels on the water, on land, in towers, carried by balloons, shot from cannons, dropped from airplanes with or without parachutes, and shot into a ballistic trajectory, into high atmosphere or into near space on rockets. Since 1963 the great majority have been underground due to the Partial Test Ban Treaty.
  • Salvo tests in which several devices are fired simultaneously, as defined by international treaties:

In conformity with treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union, ... For nuclear weapon tests, a salvo is defined as two or more underground nuclear explosions conducted at a test site within an area delineated by a circle having a diameter of two kilometers and conducted within a total period of time of 0.1 second.[2]

  • The two nuclear bombs dropped in combat over Japan in 1945. While the primary purpose of these two detonations was military and not experimental, observations were made and the tables would be incomplete without them.
  • Nuclear safety tests in which the intended nuclear yield was intended to be zero, and which failed to some extent if a nuclear yield was detected. There have been failures, and therefore they are included in the lists, as well as the successes.
  • Fizzles, in which the expected yield was not reached.
  • Tests intended but not completed because of vehicle or other support failures that destroyed the device.
  • Tests that were emplaced and could not be fired for various reasons. Usually, the devices were ultimately destroyed by later conventional or nuclear explosions.

Not included as nuclear tests:

  • Misfires which were corrected and later fired as intended.
  • Hydro-nuclear or Subcritical testing in which the normal fuel material for a nuclear device is below the amount necessary to sustain a chain reaction. The line here is finely drawn, but, among other things, subcritical testing is not prohibited by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, while safety tests are.[3][4]
  1. ^ Pavlovski, O. A. (14 August 1998). "Radiological Consequences of Nuclear Testing for the Population of the Former USSR (Input Information, Models, Dose, and Risk Estimates)". Atmospheric Nuclear Tests. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 219–260. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-03610-5_17. ISBN 978-3-642-08359-4.
  2. ^ Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl; Richards, Paul G. (August 2000), Worldwide Nuclear Explosions (PDF), retrieved 2013-12-31
  3. ^ Martin Kalinowski. "SubCritical Tests". Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  4. ^ Jeffrey Lewis. "Subcritical Experiments". Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.

and 27 Related for: List of nuclear weapons tests information

Request time (Page generated in 2.4984 seconds.)

List of nuclear weapons tests

Last Update:

suspected of having nuclear weapons but not known to have ever tested any. The following are considered nuclear tests: single nuclear devices fired in deep...

Word Count : 6613

List of United States nuclear weapons tests

Last Update:

1,054 nuclear tests by official count, including 216 atmospheric, underwater, and space tests. Most of the tests took place at the Nevada Test Site (NNSS/NTS)...

Word Count : 481

Nuclear weapons testing

Last Update:

Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical...

Word Count : 5433

List of nuclear weapons tests of India

Last Update:

coordinates) Pokhran II was a group of 2 nuclear tests conducted in 1998. The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and...

Word Count : 1354

List of nuclear weapons tests of China

Last Update:

The list of nuclear weapons tests is a listing of nuclear tests conducted by the People's Republic of China from 1964 through 1996. Most listings show 45...

Word Count : 1051

List of nuclear weapons tests of France

Last Update:

France executed nuclear weapons tests in the areas of Reggane and In Ekker in Algeria and the Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls in French Polynesia, from...

Word Count : 346

List of nuclear weapons tests of the Soviet Union

Last Update:

The nuclear weapons tests of the Soviet Union were performed between 1949 and 1990 as part of the nuclear arms race. The Soviet Union conducted 715 nuclear...

Word Count : 386

List of nuclear weapons tests of Pakistan

Last Update:

coordinates) The nuclear weapons tests of Pakistan refers to a test programme directed towards the development of nuclear explosives and investigation of the effects...

Word Count : 1592

France and weapons of mass destruction

Last Update:

biological weapons. France is the only member of the European Union to possess independent (non-NATO) nuclear weapons. France was the fourth country to test an...

Word Count : 5042

List of nuclear weapons tests of North Korea

Last Update:

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009, 2013, twice in 2016, and in 2017. 2km 1.2miles South West East North portal 6 5 4 3 2 1   ...

Word Count : 1264

Nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom

Last Update:

develop and test nuclear weapons, and is one of the five nuclear-weapon states under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The UK initiated...

Word Count : 21561

Nuclear weapons tests in Australia

Last Update:

The United Kingdom conducted 12 major nuclear weapons tests in Australia between 1952 and 1957. These explosions occurred at the Montebello Islands, Emu...

Word Count : 925

List of nuclear weapons

Last Update:

This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states. American nuclear weapons of all types – bombs...

Word Count : 3737

List of nuclear weapon explosion sites

Last Update:

|journal= (help) "Nuclear Tests in French Polynesia: Could Hazards Arise?". Retrieved 25 April 2014. "Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base". 26 July 2012...

Word Count : 261

List of states with nuclear weapons

Last Update:

of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)...

Word Count : 8397

Historical nuclear weapons stockpiles and nuclear tests by country

Last Update:

estimates of the nuclear weapon stockpiles of various countries at various points in time. This article also shows the number of nuclear weapons tests conducted...

Word Count : 1022

Nuclear proliferation

Last Update:

Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not...

Word Count : 14779

Nuclear weapons of the United States

Last Update:

Before and during the Cold War, it conducted 1,054 nuclear tests, and tested many long-range nuclear weapons delivery systems. Between 1940 and 1996, the U...

Word Count : 9942

China and weapons of mass destruction

Last Update:

of China has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and nuclear weapons. The first of China's nuclear weapons tests took...

Word Count : 5166

Underground nuclear weapons testing

Last Update:

Underground nuclear testing is the test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient...

Word Count : 3729

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction

Last Update:

nuclear weapons program and, as of early 2020, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 30 to 40 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of...

Word Count : 16201

India and weapons of mass destruction

Last Update:

possesses nuclear weapons and previously developed chemical weapons. Although India has not released any official statements about the size of its nuclear arsenal...

Word Count : 5634

Nuclear weapons and Israel

Last Update:

The State of Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. Estimates of Israel's stockpile range between 80 and 400 nuclear warheads, and the...

Word Count : 16180

History of nuclear weapons

Last Update:

Day against Nuclear Tests List of nuclear weapons List of nuclear weapons tests National Response Scenario Number One Psychic numbing#Nuclear denial disorder...

Word Count : 13563

Effects of nuclear explosions

Last Update:

Effects of nuclear explosions on human health Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents List of nuclear weapons tests Nuclear warfare Nuclear holocaust...

Word Count : 7407

Nuclear weapon yield

Last Update:

amount of weapon yield compared to the mass of the weapon. The practical maximum yield-to-weight ratio for fusion weapons (thermonuclear weapons) has been...

Word Count : 3597

Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Last Update:

for the test ban was provided by rising public anxiety over the magnitude of nuclear tests, particularly tests of new thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen...

Word Count : 15945

PDF Search Engine © AllGlobal.net