With the exception of north korea there has been a longterm moratorium on nuclear weapons tests and some arms control experts worry a us test could ignite a new era of testing around the world. The effects of radiation were not well understood by most scientists on the. The goal of the test was to see if the military could harness plutonium into a weapon that would destroy whole cities said alex wellerstein a science historian at the stevens institute of technology in hoboken n j who studies the history of nuclear weapons.
The top secret test was heard and seen for miles. Since the trinity test 75 years ago at least eight countries have conducted more than 2 000 nuclear bomb tests said jenifer mackby a senior fellow at the federation of american scientists. And now on the 75th anniversary of the test code.
Salt lake city ap on july 16 1945 the u s military detonated the world s first atomic bomb in new mexico ushering in the nuclear age. The us ended all underground nuclear tests in the early 1990s in the lead up to the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty despite protests from the heads of the nation s three national weapons. Since the trinity test 75 years ago at least eight countries have conducted more than 2 000 nuclear bomb tests said jenifer mackby a senior fellow at the federation of american scientists.
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 nuclear weapons tests of the united states were performed between 1945 and 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. The united states the soviet union united kingdom france china india.
This has been done on test sites on land or waters owned controlled or leased from the owners by one of the eight nuclear nations. Nuclear weapons testing is the act of experimentally and deliberately firing one or more nuclear devices in a controlled manner pursuant to a military scientific or technological goal.
