List of United States nuclear weapons tests

The nuclear weapons tests of the United States were performed from 1945 to 1992 as part of the nuclear arms race. The United States conducted around 1,054 nuclear tests by official count, including 216 atmospheric, underwater, and space tests.[1][notes 1] Most of the tests took place at the Nevada Test Site (NNSS/NTS) and the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands and off Kiritimati Island in the Pacific, plus three in the Atlantic Ocean. Ten other tests took place at various locations in the United States, including Alaska, Nevada other than the NNSS/NTS, Colorado, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

See also: List of nuclear weapons tests
Trinity, part of Project Manhattan, was the first ever nuclear explosion.

United States nuclear tests
See also: List of nuclear weapons tests
United States' nuclear testing series summary
Series or years Years covered Tests[Summ 1] Devices fired Devices with un-known yield Peace-ful use tests Non-PTBT tests[Summ 2] Yield range (kilotons) [Summ 3] Total yield (kilotons) [Summ 4] Notes
Trinity 1945 1 1 1 21 21 First nuclear weapons test, conducted as part of the Manhattan Project. Tested the Mark 3 Fat Man design.
Crossroads 1946 2 2 2 21 42 First postwar test series.
Sandstone 1948 3 3 3 18 to 49 104 The first use of "levitated" cores made of oralloy. Tested components for Mark 4 design.
Ranger 1951 5 5 5 1 to 22 40 First tests at the Nevada Test Site. Operation originally named "Operation Faust".
Greenhouse 1951 4 4 4 46 to 225 398 George shot was physics experiment relating to the hydrogen bomb; Item shot was first boosted fission weapon.
Buster-Jangle 1951 7 7 7 small to 31 72 The first series in which troop maneuvers (Desert Rock exercises) were performed.
Tumbler-Snapper 1952 8 8 8 1 to 31 104
Ivy 1952 2 2 2 500 to 10,400 10,900 The "Mike" shot was the first multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon.
Upshot-Knothole 1953 11 11 11 small to 61 252 18,000 men exposed in Desert Rock V up to 26.6 REM. 84 exceeded current yearly limits of 5 REM/yr.
Castle 1954 6 6 6 110 to 15,000 48,200 Bravo shot inspired secret Project 4.1 to study fallout victims. It over-produced by 250% of expected yield, caused fallout over a wide area.
Teapot 1955 14 14 14 1 to 43 167
Wigwam 1955 1 1 1 30 30 2,000 feet (610 m) underwater
Project 56 1955–1956 4 4 4 0 to 0 0
Redwing 1956 17 17 17 small to 5,000 20,820 Test with "energy budget". Competition between UCRL and LASL over budget allocation was high.
Project 57 1957 1 1 1 0 0 The first safety test, asking whether an improperly ignited bomb (as in a plane crash) would cause a nuclear blast.
Plumbbob 1957 29 29 25 0 to 74 345 Included the largest atmospheric test in CONUS.
Project 58+58A 1957 4 4 1 small to 1 1 Four more safety tests.
Hardtack I 1958 35 35 35 0 to 9,300 35,628 A series in the Pacific Proving Ground, including three rocket boosted high altitude tests called Operation Newsreel.
Argus 1958 3 3 3 2 4 Also known as Operation Floral before becoming Argus for security reasons. Tested three weapons in the South Atlantic, trying to create an artificial energy belt in the magnetosphere.
Hardtack II 1958 37 37 24 0 to 22 46 Meant to squeeze all possible testing into the time before Eisenhower's test ban started on 30 October 1958. Planned as "Operation Millrace", changed to HT II when a science panel recommended to "stop testing after the Hardtack series."
Nougat 1961–1962 44 44 1 2 small to 67 357 First all-underground test series. Included first Operation Plowshare shot "Gnome" in Carlsbad, New Mexico, which was detonated in an underground salt dome.
Sunbeam 1962 4 4 4 small to 2 2 Aka Operation Dominic II. Test of small tactical warheads, including the man-portable "Davy Crockett". Last atmospheric test series. The Army's part of Sunbeam was Operation Ivy Flats.
Dominic 1962–1963 31 31 31 2 to 8,300 34,640 "Frigate Bird" was the only operational test of a missile "mated" with a live warhead. Series also included three high-altitude tests known as Operation Fishbowl, separated out in this text.
Fishbowl 1962 9 9 4 9 400 to 1,400 2,205 The high altitude rocket part of Operation Dominic. Included several failed tests as the rockets failed for various reasons.
Storax 1962–1963 47 47 3 1 1 to 115 585
Roller Coaster 1963 4 4 4 0 0 Storage-transportation safety experiments, measured plutonium dispersal risk.
Niblick 1963–1964 41 43 4 small to 249 698
Whetstone 1964–1965 46 49 4 1 small to 51 476
Flintlock 1965–1966 47 49 2 small to 365 1,891
Latchkey 1966–1967 38 38 3 small to 870 1,831
Crosstie 1967–1968 48 57 5 4 2 small to 1,300 3,638
Bowline 1968–1969 47 58 2 1 small to 1,150 2,152
Mandrel 1969–70 52 78 1 2 small to 1,900 5,528
Emery 1970–1971 16 24 2 small to 220 565
Grommet 1971–1972 34 39 1 small to 4,800 5,200 Included Cannikin, the largest underground explosion ever at 5 Mt, fired under the Aleutian island Amchitka.
Toggle 1972–1973 28 35 1 small to 250 958
Arbor 1973–1974 18 20 small to 150 274
Bedrock 1974–1975 27 29 small to 750 2,840
Anvil 1975–1976 21 21 0 to 1,000 5,993
Fulcrum 1976–1977 21 24 small to 140 635
Cresset 1977–1978 22 23 0 to 150 1,122
Quicksilver 1978–1979 16 16 1 to 140 717
Tinderbox 1979–1980 14 14 1 to 140 452
Guardian 1980–1981 14 14 1 to 140 322
Praetorian 1981–1982 19 20 1 to 140 938
Phalanx 1982–1983 18 19 1 to 143 365
Fusileer 1983–1984 16 16 small to 150 521
Grenadier 1984–1985 16 16 3 to 150 670
Charioteer 1985–1986 16 16 small to 140 549
Musketeer 1986–1987 14 16 3 to 150 970
Touchstone 1987–1988 13 15 2 to 150 696
Cornerstone 1988–1989 11 17 1 to 150 436
Aqueduct 1989–1990 10 13 small to 150 426
Sculpin 1990–1991 7 9 2 to 140 478
Julin 1991–1992 7 9 small to 100 172 The last test series, cut off by the negotiation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Totals 1945-Jul-16 to 1992-Sep-23 1032 1132 12 27 231 0 to 15,000 196,552 Total country yield is 36.3% of all nuclear testing.
  1. Includes all tests with potential for nuclear fission or fusion explosion, including combat use, singleton tests, salvo tests, zero yield fails, safety experiments, and bombs incapacitated by accidents but still intended to be fired. It does not include hydronuclear and subcritical tests, and misfires of a device which was subsequently fired successfully.
  2. Number of tests which would have been in violation of the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, such as atmospheric, space or underwater tests. Some "peaceful use" cratering tests which should have been violations were protested, and later quietly dropped.
  3. "Small" refers to a value greater than zero but less than 0.5 kt.
  4. Some yields are described like "< 20 kt"; such are scored at one half of the numeric amount, i.e., yield of 10k in this example. "Unknown yield" adds nothing to the total.

Timeline

Graphical timeline of United States atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. [2]

Operation ArgusOperation SunbeamSedan craterOperation NougatOperation Hardtack IIProject 58Operation PlumbbobProject 57Project 56Operation TeapotOperation Upshot-KnotholeOperation Tumbler-SnapperOperation Buster-JangleOperation RangerOperation FishbowlOperation DominicOperation Hardtack IOperation RedwingOperation WigwamOperation CastleOperation IvyOperation GreenhouseOperation SandstoneOperation CrossroadsProject AlbertaSouth AtlanticNevada Test SitePacific Proving GroundWhite Sands Missile Range

Notes
  1. Discrepancies with the table include 24 tests actually carried out by the United Kingdom at the NTS; four aborted tests in Operation Fishbowl; one test, Anvil/Peninsula, that jammed during lowering in its shaft and was abandoned; and five salvo tests listed as two enumerated tests each because they were treated that way when eventually described to the public, rather than standing on the treaty definition of a salvo test.

References
  1. "United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992" (PDF) (DOE/NV-209 REV15). Las Vegas, NV: Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. 2000-12-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2013-12-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (PDF) (Report). Las Vegas, NV: Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. 2000-12-01. DOE/NV-209 REV15. Retrieved 2019-05-05.

Sources
  • Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). "CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3)". SMDC Monitoring Research. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Andryushi, LA; Voloshin, N.P.; Ilkaev, R.I.; Matushchenko, A.M.; Ryabev, L.D.; Strukov, V.G.; Chernyshev, A.K.; Yudin, Yu.A. Mikhailov, V.N. (ed.). "Catalog of Worldwide Nuclear Testing". Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  • Wm Robert Johnston, PhD. "Johnston Archive of Nuclear Weapons". Retrieved 2013-12-31. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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