CATALOG OF WORLDWIDE NUCLEAR TESTING

4. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NUCLEAR TESTS

This section contains some genera! characteristics of nuclear tests, which are their distribution by various parameters.

The distribution of nuclear tests and peaceful nuclear explosions by time of their conduct allows to understand the dynamics of nuclear testing and to distinguish the periods of intensification and reduction in nuclear testing activities for different nuclear-weapon states. This data are complemented by the distribution of yield of nuclear tests and peaceful nuclear explosions by time. For the period of atmospheric nuclear testing, the official information is available regarding the exact yield values for the majority of nuclear explosions. For the period of underground nuclear testing, only yield ranges are known for a large number of. nuclear tests and estimates of the total yield of underground nuclear tests may be inaccurate. The total yield of the USSR nuclear tests and peaceful nuclear explosions is an exception because exact figures for yield by year are available.

Similar distributions are presented separately for atmospheric and underground nuclear tests. It is important to estimate the impact of nuclear testing on the environment. While powerful atmospheric nuclear tests affected the global radiological situation, underground nuclear tests allowed to bury the major part of radioactivity in territory of the test sites. A separate table summarizes surface-ground, surface-water, and cratering nuclear explosions, which led to the substantial mechanical and radiological impact on regions of their conduct and adjacent territories. This table also includes nuclear explosions that are intermediate between surface and air explosions.

This section also presents the distributions of nuclear tests and nuclear explosions by type and method of their conduct. This information allows to estimate the importance of various types and methods in nuclear testing programs of different states.

The distributions of nuclear tests and nuclear explosions by purpose and yield range are important characteristics of nuclear testing. Even taking into account their conditional character and possible inaccurateness, they allow to determine common and different features in nuclear testing of different states.

Of course, this chapter presents only some examples of general characteristics that can be derived from the information included into the Unified Catalog. Using the catalog the reader can easily obtain these or those characteristics in which he or she is interested.

Tables 5 and 6 show the distributions of nuclear tests and nuclear explosions by year and state. Table 7 summarizes the total yield of nuclear tests in kilotons by year and state. Tables 8 and 9 present the distributions of atmospheric nuclear tests and their yield by year and state. Tables 10 and 11 show the distributions of underground nuclear tests and their yield by year and state.