Top 10 very first nuclear explosions

Top 10 very first nuclear explosions
Despite the fact that in our time many countries in the world have a nuclear arsenal, the situation remains more or less balanced. Each of the decision makers is aware that when they try to use the stock of warheads, they will face opposition. A completely different situation was at the dawn of the nuclear era, when these weapons were unknown and unpredictable. The panic and horror of the first nuclear explosions in our review.

1- Trinity, July 16, 1945

The first nuclear charge (training) was blown up in Death Valley, in the state of New Mexico. Its capacity was 21 kilotons. You might think that the military was very risky, but before the main explosion, a test, 100-ton explosion was made. Thanks to him, it was possible to predict how the nuclear charge will behave, where the radioactive cloud will go, and what the blast wave will be.

2- Hiroshima, August 6, 1945. Nagasaki, August 9, 1945

Unfortunately, the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were no longer training. It was these cities that later became synonymous with the terrible consequences of nuclear war. 15- and 21-kiloton bombs ("Kid" and "Fat Man") were dropped on Japanese cities with an interval of several days. During the first four months, 226 thousand people died, but the victims were even more destructive and the effect of radiation is still felt. Another seven bombs were ready to be dropped on Japanese territory, and the losses could have been even more terrifying if the country had not surrendered on August 15, 1945.

3- Bikini Atoll, July 25, 1946

The following nuclear tests, called Operation Crossroads, took place in the Pacific Ocean. These were the first of a series of trials that the United States of America conducted in the Marshall Islands. Two nuclear weapons with a capacity of 23 kilotons were dropped from the air and exploded under water.

4- Enivetok Atoll, April 15, 1948

In a series of Sandstone explosions, the US military used fundamentally new technologies. Changes were made to the design of the bombs, and instead of plutonium, enriched uranium and a uranium-plutonium alloy (X-Ray charge) were used as a charge. The total power of the explosions made 104 kilotons.

5- Semipalatinsk, August 29, 1949

The first Soviet nuclear bomb called “First Lightning” was detonated at a training ground in the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Weapons were developed at the Kurchatov Institute, and radioactive material was extracted in Chelyabinsk-40. With power, it caught up with the Fat Man dumped on Nagasaki. The Americans gave this bomb the code name "Joe - 1", named after Stalin. After that, nuclear explosions began to be heard in all parts of the planet.

6- Nevada, January 27, 1951

A series of Ranger explosions was carried out in Nevada. These were small nuclear charges, with a capacity of 0.5-8 kilotons, and only the last of them, “Fox,” was 22 kilotons. The bombs were dropped from a height of about 300 meters, with the help of B-50 bombers.

7- Enivetok Atoll, April 7, 1951

Operation Greenhouse, during which the first hydrogen bombs built on the principles of thermonuclear fusion were tested, took place in the summer of 1951. In total, five tests occurred, and the total power of the explosions was 225 kilotons. All of them occurred on the ground, since during the studies the degree of damage to buildings from nuclear explosions was determined

8- Semipalatinsk, September 24, 1951

This year in Semipalatinsk, a second nuclear bomb, created on the territory of the USSR, is blown up. Its total capacity amounted to 38 kilotons. Soviet designers gave her the name "Second Lightning", in Americans, respectively, "Joe-2."

9- Nevada, October 22, 1951

Explosions in Nevada in the late fall of 1951 were carried out during Operation Buster Jungle. The Americans carried out a series of air and ground attacks and one underground explosion of small power. The maximum explosion power was 31 kilotons. The effects of a nuclear attack on wildlife were investigated.

10- Montebello Islands, October 3, 1952

The cautious British decided to conduct these first British nuclear tests away from the United Kingdom. Namely - in his colony, Australia. The British copied a lot from the “Fat Man”, in the development of which they participated, but left an empty core in the bomb, which allowed to increase detonation to 30 kilotons, although the bomb itself was 25 kilotons.
An interesting fact is that in those years when nuclear tests were conducted quite often, there were no major earthquakes on the earth. Scientists later explained that the earth’s crust, experiencing a series of “micromotion”, did not need much movement. So nuclear strikes can save lives if they are used for peaceful purposes.