Nuclear testing

A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon.

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Motivations for testing generally are broken into the categories:

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• "weapons related" (verifying that a weapon works, or examining exactly how it works)
• "weapons effects" (how weapons behave under various conditions, and how structures behave when subjected to weapons).

Often, though, testing has also been a demonstration of the possessing nation's military and scientific strength.

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Nuclear weapons tests are generally classified as being either "atmospheric" (in or above the atmosphere), "underground," or "underwater." Of these, underground testing contained in deep shafts poses the least health risk in terms of fallout. Atmospheric testing which comes in contact with the ground or other materials poses the highest risk. Nuclear weapons have been tested by dropping them from planes (an "airdrop"), from the tops of towers, hoisted from balloons, on barges at sea, attached to the bottom of ships, and even shot into outer space by rockets (for the latter see below).

Related Topics:
Atmosphere - Fallout

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The first atomic test was detonated by the United States at the Trinity site on July 16, 1945, with a yield approximately equivalent to 20 kilotons. The first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike", was tested at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll on November 1, 1952, also by the United States. The largest nuclear weapon ever tested was the Tsar Bomba of the Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya, with an estimated yield of around 50 megatons.

Related Topics:
United States - Trinity site - July 16 - 1945 - Kiloton - Hydrogen bomb - Eniwetok - Bikini atoll - November 1 - 1952 - Tsar Bomba - Soviet Union - Novaya Zemlya - Megatons

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In 1963, all nuclear and many non-nuclear states signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. The treaty permitted underground tests. France continued atmospheric testing until 1974, while China continued up until 1980. The last underground test by the United States was in 1992, the Soviet Union in 1990, the United Kingdom in 1991, and both France and China have continued testing up until 1996. After adopting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, all of these states have pledged to discontinue all nuclear testing. Non-signatories India and Pakistan both last tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

Related Topics:
1963 - Limited Test Ban Treaty - 1974 - 1980 - 1992 - 1990 - 1991 - 1996 - Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty - India - Pakistan - 1998

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There have been around 2,000 nuclear test explosions:

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• U.S.: 1,030 tests (involving 1,125 devices)
• Soviet Union: 715 tests
• France: 210 tests
• Britain: 45 tests (21 in Australian territory, including 9 in mainland South Australia at Maralinga and Emu Field, many others in the U.S.)
• China: 45 tests (23 atmospheric and 22 underground, all conducted at Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base, in Malan, Xinjiang)
• India: 6 tests.
• Pakistan: 6 tests.

Additionally, there may have been at least three alleged/disputed/unacknowledged nuclear explosions (see below).

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From the first nuclear test in 1945 until the latest tests by Pakistan in 1998, there was never a period of more than 22 months with no nuclear testing. Therefore, the period from June of 1998 to the present has been, by far, the longest period since 1945 with no acknowledged nuclear tests.

Related Topics:
1945 - Pakistan - 1998

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Peter Kuran's documentary film Trinity and Beyond (1996) incorporates a good deal of footage from US, Soviet, and Chinese tests.

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Nuclear testing: Milestone nuclear explosions ►