Fizzle (nuclear Test) - Nuclear Tests Considered To Be Fizzles

Nuclear Tests Considered To Be Fizzles

• Buster Able – Considered to be the first known failure of any nuclear device.
• Upshot-Knothole Ruth – Testing a uranium hydride bomb. The test failed to declassify the site (erase evidence) as it left the bottom third of the 300-foot (91 m) shot tower still standing. The Ray test conducted the following month was allegedly shot on a shorter 100-foot (30 m) tower to ensure that the tower would be completely destroyed.
• Castle Koon – a thermonuclear device whose fusion secondary did not ignite
• Short Granite – Dropped by the United Kingdom over Malden Island on May 15, 1957 during Operation Grapple 1, this bomb had an expected yield of over 1 megaton, but only exploded with a force of a quarter of the anticipated yield. The test was still considered successful. Another bomb dropped during Grapple 1, Purple Granite, was hoped to give an improved yield over Short Granite, but the yield was even lower.
• 2006 North Korean nuclear test – Russia claimed to have measured 5-15 kt yield, whereas the United States, France, and South Korea measured less than 1 kt yield. This North Korean debut test was weaker than all other countries' initial tests by a factor of 20, and the smallest initial test in history.