Milestone Nuclear Explosions
The following list is of milestone nuclear explosions. In addition to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first nuclear test of a given weapon type for a country is included, and tests which were otherwise notable (such as the largest test ever). All yields (explosive power) are given in their estimated energy equivalents in kilotons of TNT (see TNT equivalent). Putative tests (like Vela Incident) have not been included.
| Date | Name | Yield (kT) | Country | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945-07-16 | Trinity | 18-20 | USA | First fission device test, first plutonium implosion detonation |
| 1945-08-06 | Little Boy | 12–18 | USA | Bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, first detonation of an enriched uranium gun-type device, first use of a nuclear device in military combat. |
| 1945-08-09 | Fat Man | 18–23 | USA | Bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, second and last use of a nuclear device in military combat. |
| 1949-08-29 | RDS-1 | 22 | USSR | First fission weapon test by the USSR |
| 1952-10-03 | Hurricane | 25 | UK | First fission weapon test by the UK |
| 1952-11-01 | Ivy Mike | 10,400 | USA | First cryogenic fusion fuel "staged" thermonuclear weapon, primarily a test device and not weaponized |
| 1953-08-12 | Joe 4 | 400 | USSR | First fusion weapon test by the USSR (not "staged") |
| 1954-03-01 | Castle Bravo | 15,000 | USA | First dry fusion fuel "staged" thermonuclear weapon; a serious nuclear fallout accident occurred |
| 1955-11-22 | RDS-37 | 1,600 | USSR | First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the USSR (deployable) |
| 1957-11-08 | Grapple X | 1,800 | UK | First (successful) "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the UK |
| 1960-02-13 | Gerboise Bleue | 70 | France | First fission weapon test by France |
| 1961-10-31 | Tsar Bomba | 50,000 | USSR | Largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested—scaled down from its initial 100 Mt design by 50% |
| 1964-10-16 | 596 | 22 | PR China | First fission weapon test by the People's Republic of China |
| 1967-06-17 | Test No. 6 | 3,300 | PR China | First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the People's Republic of China |
| 1968-08-24 | Canopus | 2,600 | France | First "staged" thermonuclear test by France |
| 1974-05-18 | Smiling Buddha | 12 | India | First fission nuclear explosive test by India |
| 1998-05-11 | Pokhran-II | 60 | India | First potential fusion/boosted weapon test by India; first deployable fission weapon test by India |
| 1998-05-28 | Chagai-I | 40 | Pakistan | First fission weapon (boosted) test by Pakistan |
| 1998-05-30 | Chagai-II | 20 | Pakistan | Second fission weapon (boosted) test by Pakistan |
| 2006-10-09 | 2006 North Korean nuclear test | ~1 | North Korea | First fission plutonium-based device tested by North Korea; likely resulted as a fizzle |
| 2009-05-25 | 2009 North Korean nuclear test | 5–15 | North Korea | First successful fission device tested by North Korea |
"Staging" refers to whether it was a "true" hydrogen bomb of the so-called Teller-Ulam configuration or simply a form of a boosted fission weapon. For a more complete list of nuclear test series, see List of nuclear tests. Some exact yield estimates, such as that of the Tsar Bomba and the tests by India and Pakistan in 1998, are somewhat contested among specialists.
Read more about this topic: Nuclear Weapons Testing
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