Nuclear test
A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon.
Motivations for testing generally are broken into the categories of "weapons related" (verifying that a weapon works, or examining exactly how it works), and "weapons effects" (how weapons behave under various conditions, and how structures behave when subjected to weapons). Often, though, weapons testing has also been a demonstration of the possessing nation's military and scientific strength.
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.
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 57 megatons.
There have been around 2,000 nuclear test explosions:
Peter Kuran's documentary film Trinity and Beyond (1996) incorporates a good deal of footage from US, Soviet and Chinese tests.
Known test series designations
US
The United States has conducted numerous nuclear tests throughout the nation including the Nevada Test Site, the Marshall Islands, Alaska, and even Farmington, New Mexico.
- Operation Trinity. 17 July, 1945 see Trinity site
- Operation Crossroads, 1946
- Operation Sandstone, 1948
- Operation Ranger, 1951
- Operation Greenhouse, 1951
- Operation Buster-Jangle, 1951
- Operation Tumbler-Snapper, 1952
- Operation Ivy, 1952
- Operation Upshot-Knothole, 1953
- Operation Castle, 1954
- Operation Teapot, 1955
- Operation Wigwam, 14 May, 1955
- Operation Red Wing, 1956
- Operation Plumbob, 1957
- Operation Chariot, 1958 (cancelled)
- Operation Hardtack, 1958
- Operation Argus, 1958
- Operation Dominic, 1962, 1963
- Operation Nougat, 1963 - 1964
- Operation Little Feller, July, 1962
- Operation Dominic/Fishbowl, 1962 - 1963
- Operation Niblick, 1963 - 1964
- Operation Whetstone, 1964 - 1965
- Operation Flintlock, 1965 - 1966
- Operation Latchkey, 1966 - 1967
- Operation Crosstie, 1967 - 1968
- Operation Bowline, 1968 - 1969
- Operation Mandrel, 1969
- Operation Emery 1970
- Operation Grommet, 1971 - 1972
- Operation Toggle, 1972 - 1973
- Operation Arbor, 1973 -1974
- Operation Bedrock, 1974- 1975
- Operation Anvil, 1975 - 1976
- Operation Fulcrum, 1976 -1977
- Operation Crescent, 1977 - 1978
- Operation Quicksilver, 1978 - 1979
- Operation Tinderbox, 1979 - 1980
- Operation Guardian, 1980 - 1981
- Operation Praetorian, 1981
- Operation Phalanx, 1982 - 1983
- Operation Fusileer, 1983 - 1984
- Operation Grenadier, 1984 - 1985
- Operation Charioteer, 1985
- Operation Divider, 23 September, 1992
- Operation Rebound, 1997
USSR
UK
France
India
Israel/South Africa
- Israel, along with South Africa, may have detonated a nuclear device on 22 September, 1979 in the Indian Ocean, according to seismological data. See .
North Korea
On 9th September 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 which had nothing to do with the DPRK's nuclear weapons program. For more, see Ryanggang explosion.
See also
