The Nuclear Testing Tally

February 2013

Nuclear Testing

Press Contacts: Daryl Kimball, Executive Director, (202) 463-8270 x107

Updated: February 2013

Since the first nuclear test explosion on July 16, 1945, at least eight nations have detonated 2,053 nuclear test explosions at dozens of test sites from Lop Nor in China, to the atolls of the Pacific, to Nevada, to Algeria where France conducted its first nuclear device, to western Australia where the U.K. exploded nuclear weapons, the South Atlantic, to Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, across Russia, and elsewhere.

Most of the test sites are in the lands of indigenous peoples and far from the capitals of the testing governments. A large number of the early tests-- 528 -- were detonated in the atmosphere, which spread radioactive materials through the atmosphere. Many underground nuclear blasts have also vented radioactive material into the atmosphere and left radioactive contamination in the soil.

Through nuclear test explosions, the testing nations have been able to proof-test new warhead designs and create increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons. In 1996, negotiations on a global Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) were concluded and the treaty was opened for signature on September 24, 1996. The CTBT, which prohibits "any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion" and established a international test monitoring and verification system, has not yet entered into force.

United States (1,030)
First tested: July 16, 1945.
Last tested: Sept. 23, 1992.
Signed CTBT: Sept. 24, 1996.

USSR/Russia (715 tests)
First tested: Aug. 29, 1949.
Last tested: Oct. 24, 1990.
Deposited CTBT Ratification: June 30, 2000..

United Kingdom (45 tests)
First tested: Oct. 3, 1952.
Last tested: Nov. 26, 1991.
Signed CTBT: Sept. 24, 1996.
Deposited CTBT Ratification:
Apr. 6, 1998.

France (210 tests)
First tested: Feb. 13, 1960.
Last tested: Jan. 27, 1996.
Signed CTBT: Sept. 24, 1996.
Deposited CTBT Ratification:
Apr. 6, 1998.

China (45 tests)
First tested: Oct. 16, 1964.
Last tested: July 29, 1996.
Signed CTBT: Sept. 24, 1996.

India (3 tests¹)
First tested: May 18, 1974.
Last tested: May 13, 1998.
Not a CTBT signatory.

Pakistan (2 tests¹)
First tested: May 28, 1998.
Last tested: May 30, 1998.
Not a CTBT signatory.

North Korea (3 tests)
First tested: Oct. 9, 2006.
Last tested: Feb 12, 2013.
Not a CTBT signatory.

Year	United States	USSR/ Russia	United Kingdom	France	China	India	Pakistan	North Korea	Total
1945	1								1
1946	2								2
1947	0								0
1948	3								3
1949	0	1							1
1950	0	0							0
1951	16	2							18
1952	10	0	1						11
1953	11	5	2						18
1954	6	10	0						16
1955	18	6	0						24
1956	18	9	6						33
1957	32	16	7						55
1958	77	34	5						116
1959	0	0	0						0
1960	0	0	0	3					3
1961	10	59	0	2					71
1962	96	79	2	1					178
1963	47	0	0	3					50
1964	45	9	2	3	1				60
1965	38	14	1	4	1				58
1966	48	18	0	7	3				76
1967	42	17	0	3	2				64
1968	56	17	0	5	1				79
1969	46	19	0	0	2				67
1970	39	16	0	8	1				64
1971	24	23	0	5	1				53
1972	27	24	0	4	2				57
1973	24	17	0	6	1				48
1974	22	21	1	9	1	1			55
1975	22	19	0	2	1	0			44
1976	20	21	1	5	4	0			51
1977	20	24	0	9	1	0			54
1978	19	31	2	11	3	0			66
1979	15	31	1	10	1	0			58
1980	14	24	3	12	1	0			54
1981	16	21	1	12	0	0			50
1982	18	19	1	10	1	0			49
1983	18	25	1	9	2	0			55
1984	18	27	2	8	2	0			57
1985	17	10	1	8	0	0			36
1986	14	0	1	8	0	0			23
1987	14	23	1	8	1	0			47
1988	15	16	0	8	1	0			40
1989	11	7	1	9	0	0			28
1990	8	1	1	6	2	0			18
1991	7	0	1	6	0	0			14
1992	6	0	0	0	2	0			8
1993	0	0	0	0	1	0			1
1994	0	0	0	0	2	0			2
1995	0	0	0	5	2	0			7
1996	0	0	0	1	2	0			3
1997	0	0	0	0	0	0			0
1998	0	0	0	0	0	2	2		4
1999-2005	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0
2006	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
2007-2008	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
2010	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0²	0
2011	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total	1,030	715	45	210	45	3	2	3	2,053

NOTE

1. In accordance with the definition of a nuclear test contained in the Threshold Test Ban Treaty and to allow accurate comparison with other countries' figures, India's three simultaneous nuclear explosions on May 11 are counted as only one nuclear test, as are the two explosions on May 13. Likewise, Pakistan's five simultaneous explosions on May 28 are counted as a single test.

2. In the article "Radionuclide Evidence for Low-Yield Nuclear Testing in North Korea in April/May 2010," Lars-Erik De Geer argued that the xexon and barium isotope concentrations in air currents from North Korea in April and May of 2010 were consistent with two low-yield nuclear tests. However, this theory was largely debunked when the Earth Institute at Columbia University measured seismology records and determined that no well-coupled explosion larger than one ton could have occured during that timeframe. According to the report, such a low yield explosion would have been incapable of advancing the North Korean's technical understanding of a nuclear weapon explosion.