Template:Milestone nuclear explosions

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
1952-11-16	Ivy King	500	USA	Largest pure-fission weapon ever tested
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; largest nuclear detonation conducted by United States
1955-11-22	RDS-37	1,600	USSR	First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the USSR (deployable)
1957-05-31	Orange Herald	720	UK	Largest boosted fission weapon ever tested. Intended as a fallback "in megaton range" in case British thermonuclear development failed.
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 weapon 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	2-12	North Korea	First fission plutonium-based device tested by North Korea
2009-05-25	2009 North Korean nuclear test	1-20	North Korea	Successful fission device tested by North Korea
2013-02-16	2013 North Korean nuclear test	9	North Korea
2016-01-06	2016 North Korean nuclear test	14	North Korea	Most recent nuclear test

"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.

References

These references will appear in the article, but this list appears only on this page.