The 9 most powerful nuclear weapon explosions
The United States and Russia now each have thousands of nuclear weapons, and China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel also have nuclear weapons. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised fears that such nuclear weapons could eventually be used.
Here, Live Science takes a look at the most powerful nuclear weapons ever detonated – specifically explosions that exceeded 10 megatons. In comparison, estimates for the Hiroshima bomb are around 15 kilotons. Documents from the US Department of Energy and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation revealed many high-energy explosions. However, there are a number of nuclear weapon detonations for which the results are uncertain, so only detonations for which the results are known are included here. All of these Behemoth explosions are many times more powerful than the ones they were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Tsar Bomba
On October 30, 1961, the The Soviet Union dropped the most powerful nuclear weapon ever exploded on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago north of the Arctic Circle. With a 50-megaton explosion, the “Tsar Bomba,” as it’s sometimes called, was about 3,300 times more powerful than the 15-kiloton nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima. Dubbed the Soviet RDS-220, the hydrogen bomb was also known as “Big Ivan” and “Vanya,” although “Tsar Bomba” (translated to “King of Bombs”) is its most popular nickname.
Ironically, the bomb could have been much more powerful. It was designed for a yield of up to 100 megatons but detonated at 50 megatons, wrote Alex Wellerstein, director of the Science and Technology Studies program at Stevens Institute of Technology, in an article released in 2021 on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website. The explosion’s fireball was nearly 6 miles (9.7 km) in diameter, which is “large enough to encompass all of downtown Washington or San Francisco, or all of midtown and downtown Manhattan,” Wellerstein wrote.
Exam 219
On December 24, 1962, the Soviet Union dropped a rather awkward Christmas present over the test site on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago — home to the second-largest glacial complex in the Arctic, according to a 2021 article published in the Nature magazine. At 24.2 megatons, this atomic bomb was less than half the power of the “Tsar Bomb” but was still the second most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was also about 1,600 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Since it was the second most powerful nuclear weapon, it did not receive a catchy nickname like the “Tsar Bomb”. it is referred to simply as “Test 219”. Test 219 was one of the last atomic bombs dropped from the air by the Soviet Union, as a 1963 Test Ban Treaty banned above-ground testing and future tests would be conducted underground.
Exam 147
On August 5, 1962, the Soviet Union dropped a 21.1 megaton on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago (which is part of the Russian Arctic). The third most powerful nuclear explosion in history is known simply as “Test 147” and again does not have a nickname like the “Tsar Bomb”.
This bomb is about 1,400 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. Despite its immense power, this nuclear blast isn’t as well known as others on this list.
According to website nukemap, a nuclear weapon like this launched over Central Park in New York City would create a fireball that would cover the entire park and create an intense wave of thermal radiation that would cover the entire city and reach as far as possible Stamford , New York. Nukemap was created by Alex Wellerstein.
Attempt 173
On September 25, 1962, the Soviet Union dropped a 19.1-megaton atomic bomb on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The fourth most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated is about 1,270 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. Known simply as “Test 173,” this bomb never received a nickname.
An interesting note — a few weeks after that bomb was dropped, the Cuban Missile Crisis began — a crisis that brought the Soviet Union and the United States to the brink of nuclear war. During the crisis, the Soviet Union stationed nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy considered attacking the sites and eventually ordered a naval blockade to prevent further nuclear weapons from reaching Cuba. The Soviet Union eventually agreed to dismantle the missiles in exchange for the United States removing its nuclear missiles from Turkey.
Castle Bravo
On March 1, 1954, the United States detonated a 15-megaton nuclear weapon at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in a test code-named Castle Bravo. It was detonated on the surface instead of being dropped from the air and is the fifth most powerful nuclear weapon detonation in history.
The yield was about two-and-a-half times larger than expected, leading to nuclear fallout that spread about 7,000 square miles (18,130 square kilometers) across the Pacific, leaving Marshall Islanders, U.S. service members and the crew of a Japanese fishing trawler unprotected, according to an article exposed to high levels of radiation released 2017 by the Atomic Heritage Foundation. Some residents had to be evacuated, and people in the Marshall Islands suffered from an increased rate of cancer.
The Castle Bravo test and the damage inflicted on its residents sparked worldwide protests against nuclear bomb testing. In the decades that followed, the US government paid compensation to the islanders; Retired US military personnel filed a lawsuit against the government in 1984, alleging that the US government had downplayed the danger of radiation.
Castle Yankee
On May 5, 1954, another nuclear weapon was detonated on a barge alongside Bikini Atoll. The Castle Yankee test gave a yield of 13.5 megatons. It is the sixth most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated in history, some 900 times more powerful than that dropped on Hiroshima. In the years that followed, worldwide pressure for a ban on nuclear tests would increase.
Bikini Atoll is a coral reef surrounding a lagoon. Before the nuclear tests, people lived on the atoll. The population was removed prior to testing and has never been able to return as the atoll is still contaminated with remnants of the radioactive fallout.
Exam 123
On October 23, 1961, the Soviet Union dropped a 12.5-megaton bomb on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, about 830 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. It is the seventh most powerful nuclear weapon detonated in history. Known as “Test 123”, it was a prelude to the “Tsar Bomba” which was due to be dropped in the same area just a week later.
According to an article released 1996 in Polar Geography magazine, this archipelago had small populations that lived there before the nuclear tests. These people engaged in hunting and trapping.
Romeo Castle
On March 26, 1954, a nuclear weapon was detonated on a barge off Bikini Atoll. It resulted in an 11-megaton nuclear explosion that was about 730 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. Codenamed “Castle Romeo,” the test was conducted just weeks after the Castle Bravo test, which spread radioactive fallout across the Marshall Islands.
According to Nukemap, a nuclear bomb of this intensity over Central Park in New York City would create a fireball that would blanket the park and a wave of intense thermal radiation that would extend to Port Chester.
Ivy Mike
On November 1, 1952, “Ivy Mike” or “Mike” became the first thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb) to be fully detonated – with a 10.4 megaton explosion, about 690 times the size of the Hiroshima bomb. It was detonated on the surface of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. At the time of the detonation, the Korean War was raging and a nuclear arms race had developed between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Whether the hydrogen bomb should be developed has been a topic of debate within the Truman administration, with some officials pushing against and others pushing for, an article on the Atomic Heritage Foundation website written downwhich President Truman ultimately decided to build.
Originally published on Live Science.
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