Post by Joe Neubarth on Dec 20, 2011 18:04:59 GMT -5
The first nuclear weapon was detonated as a test by the United States at the Trinity site in the desert in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. It had a yield approximately equivalent to 20 kilotons.
The first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike", was tested at the Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands on November 1 (local date) in 1952, also by the United States.
The largest nuclear weapon ever tested was the "Tsar Bomba" of the Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961, with an estimated yield of around 50 megatons.
The tests have contaminated the environment and resulted in millions of cases of cancer. The testing resulted in more cancer deaths than the many wars of the 20th Century.
The first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike", was tested at the Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands on November 1 (local date) in 1952, also by the United States.
The largest nuclear weapon ever tested was the "Tsar Bomba" of the Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961, with an estimated yield of around 50 megatons.
The tests have contaminated the environment and resulted in millions of cases of cancer. The testing resulted in more cancer deaths than the many wars of the 20th Century.