Nuclear tests have been conducted by eight nations, with the first being by the US in 1945. There are four types of nuclear tests, and the first generated a fireball and radioactive glass. The next nuclear explosions occurred during Operation Crossroads in 1946. Thousands of nuclear tests were conducted by nuclear states, with most stopping in the 1990s. The only nuclear explosion since 1998 was the North Korean test in 2006, which had a low yield and is thought to have been a “fiasco”.
Nuclear tests have been conducted by eight nations: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and possibly Israel. The first nuclear test, Trinity, was conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Since then, at least eight other nations have developed nuclear weapons, with five – the US, Russia, the UK, France and China – part of “nuclear weapon states,” as identified by the internationally recognized Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
There are four main types of nuclear tests: atmospheric, underground, exoatmospheric and underwater. Each has different purposes and benefits. The first nuclear test was an atmospheric, 20 kiloton TNT equivalent bomb detonated on a 20 m (67 ft) high steel tower. Some Manhattan Project scientists were concerned that the test would set the atmosphere on fire and kill everything on Earth, but calculations at the time showed this was an extremely low probability, and thankfully it didn’t happen. This first nuclear test occasion generated a fireball 200 meters (656 feet) in diameter and left a radioactive glass crater in the desert 3 meters (10 feet) deep and 330 meters (1,100 feet) wide. The pieces of this green glass, called Trinitite, are considered a valuable collector’s item.
After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, the next nuclear explosions occurred during Operation Crossroads. This nuclear test, conducted at Bikini Atoll during the summer of 1946, featured the first underwater explosion, Baker and another test, Able. The Baker shot was used to test the effects of nuclear weapons on several large vessels, which included dummies on decks. These vessels became dangerously radioactive after testing, being the first example of acute radioactive contamination from a nuclear weapon.
In the following decades, thousands of nuclear tests were conducted by nuclear states, most notably the United States, Russia and China. Russia detonated its first bomb in 1949, followed by the United Kingdom in 1952, France in 1960, China in 1964, India in 1974, Pakistan in 1998 and North Korea in 2006. Israel and/ or South Africa may have conducted a nuclear test on a remote island in the southern Indian Ocean in 1979, but this is disputed. In 1970, member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty agreed to conduct only underground nuclear tests. During the 1990s, most nuclear states stopped testing. The only nuclear explosions since 1998 were the North Korean test on October 9, 2006, although this bomb had a low yield and is thought to have been a “fiasco”.
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