INES and the disturbances in nuclear facilities

1940 – 1949

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INES, Who the f... is INES?

The International Scale of Nuclear and Radiological Events (INES) is a tool to educate the public about the safety implications of nuclear and radiological events, but INES has a problem...

We are always looking for up-to-date information. Anyone who can help, please send a message to:
nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de

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2019-2010 | 2009-2000 | 1999-1990 | 1989-1980 | 1979-1970 | 1969-1960 | 1959-1950 | 1949-1940 | Before 

1949

December 2, 1949 "Green Run" (INES-4 NAMS 3,8) Nuclear factory Hanford, USA

Those responsible intentionally bet, among other things, 8.000 curies (289 TBq) Iodine-131 free; this experiment became known much later as the "Green Run".
(Cost approx. US$ 1100 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

The nuclear chain

Hanford, USA

The Hanford nuclear complex was where the United States produced most of its weapons-grade plutonium during the Cold War. Although the complex was shut down in 1988, it remains the most radioactively contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere...

At the time, very few people knew what had really happened at Hanford. But now everyone has heard about it, or to put it another way, everyone has gotten a little bit of it!

Wikipedia

Green Run and the  List of accidents in nuclear facilities

The 'Green Run' experiment involved the release of a radioactive cloud from the Hanford Site military nuclear complex. Estimates are in the range of several hundred Terabecquerels Iodine 131 and even more cesium 133. The proportion of iodine 131 alone was 5500 curies; This corresponds to approximately 250 times the amount that, according to official information, was released into the surrounding area in the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg. The danger of iodine 131 for the thyroid was not yet recognized in the 1940s; iodine 131 could escape unfiltered from the Hanford Site's systems even when used as intended. During normal operation, several 10 TBq medium- and long-lived nuclides released into the Columbia River. Hanford is considered the most radioactively contaminated place in the Western Hemisphere...
 

Hanford site

The USA pays over two billion US dollars a year to private companies for the necessary decontamination of the plant; in addition, around 200.000 cubic meters of radioactive waste must be disposed of. At the beginning of 2014, a decontamination project manager was dismissed for the third time after he or she expressed concerns about the safety of the measures and monitoring procedures. A provisional plan envisaged the end of the work in 2047, but since 2014 the Ministry of Energy has been assuming at least 2052 ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Hanford (USA)

The Hanford Military Complex is located on the Columbia River north of the city of Richland in northwest Washington state and was used to produce plutonium for military use from 1943 ...
 

Nuclear factories exist all over the world:

Sites for uranium enrichment and reprocessing

During reprocessing, the inventory of spent fuel elements can be separated from one another in a complex chemical process (PUREX). Separated uranium and plutonium can then be reused. As far as the theory...
 

YouTube 7:00

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: Uranium processing, enrichment, and reprocessing plants, whether at Hanford, La Hague, Windscale/Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura, or elsewhere in the world, all face the same problem: With each processing step, more and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is generated... 

Aug 29, 1949 ("RDS-1", 1st atomic test, USSR) Semipalatinsk, KAZ

Since 1945, over 2050 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out worldwide, which could be a possible explanation for the steadily increasing number of cancer cases.
 

IPPNW Report - August 2023 - Nuclear Weapons Tests - (PDF file)

... Aboveground tests were conducted at several Atolls in the Pacific Ocean in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, on traditional land of the Western Shoshone in Nevada, USA, on Aboriginal land in Australian Outback, on the land of the indigenous Nenetz in the Russian Arctic, in the territory of nomads in the Algerian Sahara, in Uighur region in China and elsewhere. Residents were often evacuated late or not at all, and were not informed about the effects of the tests. Radioactive fallout fell as dust and rain, contaminating drinking water and locally produced food...
 

The nuclear chain

Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan

Nuclear weapons tests

The history of the Soviet nuclear weapons test site in Semipalatinsk is a reminder of how supposed "national security interests" can be used to deliberately deceive the public and endanger the health of the people for many generations to come. This is exactly what happened in Semipalatinsk, where nuclear explosions knowingly exposed the local population to large amounts of radioactivity for several decades.

Background

In 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear weapons test in Semipalatinsk, a 19.000 m² test site in the steppes of Kazakhstan. Over a period of 40 years, the USSR detonated 467 atomic bombs in Semipalatinsk, 120 above ground and 347 underground—always without regard for the health and safety of the local population or the environment.

In 1990, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War joined forces with Kazakh poet Olzhas Suleimenov and his Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement to persuade President Gorbachev, through demonstrations, to declare a moratorium on nuclear testing. After Kazakhstan's independence in 1991, the Kazakh government closed the test site and scrapped the world's fourth-largest nuclear weapons arsenal, which it had inherited from the USSR.

Globally, more than 1945 nuclear explosions have been carried out at dozens of test sites around the world since 2.000. The consequence of this madness was worldwide contamination with radioactive fallout, which has exposed people worldwide to elevated levels of radiation...
 

Wikipedia

RDS-1

RDS-1 (Russian: РДС-1, also “Object 501”) is the name of the first nuclear weapon developed as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project. It was also the first nuclear weapon to be developed outside the USA. The successful test took place on August 29, 1949. RDS-1 is a close copy of the US Mk.3 design (Fat man) ...
 

List of nuclear weapons tests

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests. This table contains only significant points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for testing purposes. In addition to nuclear explosions in the true sense of the word, countless tests were also conducted with nuclear weapons that intentionally or inadvertently failed to explode...

The Soviet Union conducted its first atomic bomb test ("RDS-1") on August 29, 1949 Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons test site (now Kazakhstan) through. Between 1949 and 1990, the Soviet Union carried out a total of 715 tests with 969 individual explosives ...
 

Atomwaffen A-Z

RDS-1

1st Soviet nuclear test, August 29, 1949

Four years after the United States used nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test in Semipalatinsk on August 29.08.1949, 1. The bomb's official name was RDS-1, which is why it was often called "Russia Does Itself" (Rossiya delayet eto sama) or "Stalin's Jet Engine" (Reaktivnyi Dvigatel Stalina) in Russia. The United States referred to the bomb as "Joe-XNUMX" or "First Lightning."

Due to the pressure the USSR faced following the US deployment of nuclear weapons in 1945, the Soviet nuclear program developed extremely rapidly. The data on the Manhattan Project and the construction of the Fat Man, recorded by Soviet spies, gave the USSR a significant advantage in its own nuclear program...
 

Russia

The Soviet Union, Russia's predecessor, became a nuclear power in 1949 and conducted over 700 nuclear tests. It is estimated that Russia, or rather the Soviet Union, has produced approximately 1949 nuclear weapons since 55.000. The Soviet Union joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970. According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' Nuclear Notebook, the Russian arsenal contained 2022 nuclear weapons in spring 5.977, of which approximately 4.477 are operational.
 

Nuclear weapon states

There are nine nuclear weapons states, but only five are "recognized." The United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom - the states that also have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council - are named as "nuclear weapons states" in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because they exploded nuclear weapons before 1957. However, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea also possess nuclear weapons, although Israel does not admit to having them, and are therefore not members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...  

1948

Did I miss something? Was there one of the military known over 2050 Nuclear weapons tests or even a previously little-known incident, possibly from the civil or medical sector?

nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de 

1947

Did I miss something? Was there one of the military known over 2050 Nuclear weapons tests or even a previously little-known incident, possibly from the civilian or medical sector?

nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de 

1946

1 and 25 July 1946 ("Crossroads", 2 Pu bombs) Bikini Atoll, MH

Since 1945, over 2050 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out worldwide, which could be a possible explanation for the steadily increasing number of cancer cases.
 

IPPNW Report - August 2023 - Nuclear Weapons Tests - (PDF file)

... Aboveground tests were conducted at several Atolls in the Pacific Ocean in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, on traditional land of the Western Shoshone in Nevada, USA, on Aboriginal land in Australian Outback, on the land of the indigenous Nenetz in the Russian Arctic, in the territory of nomads in the Algerian Sahara, in Uighur region in China and elsewhere. Residents were often evacuated late or not at all, and were not informed about the effects of the tests. Radioactive fallout fell as dust and rain, contaminating drinking water and locally produced food...
 

The nuclear chain

Bikini & Eniwetok, Marshall Islands

Nuclear weapons tests

Nuclear weapons tests on the Bikini and Eniwetok atolls rendered entire island groups uninhabitable. Thousands of people were exposed to high doses of radiation. Exposure to radioactive particles from radioactive fallout increased worldwide.

Background

The two atolls of Bikini (Pikinni) and Eniwetok (Āne-wātak) are part of the Marshall Islands. They were occupied during World War II, first by the Japanese and later by the US military. The US military chose Bikini Atoll for its first atomic explosions after dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the islanders were evacuated, the atomic bomb "Able" was detonated on July 1, 1946, over a fleet of captured ships filled with laboratory animals. Five of the 78 ships sank, and 14 were destroyed. A third of the animals died as a result of the blast. Marines had to clean the decks of the remaining ships of radioactive fallout and were thus exposed to high levels of radiation. Since decontamination ultimately proved ineffective, many of the ships were sunk in the Pacific. A total of 1946 atomic bomb tests with a total yield of approximately 1958 megatons were conducted on the Bikini and Eniwetok atolls between 67 and 214. The most devastating test was "Castle Bravo" in 1954. At 15 megatons, this hydrogen bomb had the highest yield ever achieved by the US nuclear weapons program; 1.000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. The radioactive fallout spread halfway around the world—to Australia, Europe, and the USA.

More than 400 atomic bomb tests had been conducted worldwide before the 1963 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water banned above-ground nuclear tests. Significant amounts of radioactive strontium had been found in children's teeth – a compelling indication of the extent of radiation exposure to which the entire world population was subjected by the atomic bomb tests...
 

Wikipedia

Operation crossroads

Operation Crossroads was the second nuclear testing operation of the United States Armed Forces. It comprised the two nuclear tests Able and Baker on Bikini Atoll, which had been captured by the United States during the Pacific War, each with a TNT equivalent of 23 kT. Test Able was a July 1, 1946 A Mk.29 plutonium implosion bomb, identical to the Fat Man bomb dropped over Nagasaki, was dropped from a Boeing B-158 and detonated at an altitude of 3 meters above the lagoon. Test Baker on July 25, 1946 was an underwater detonation of an identical bomb at a depth of 27 meters...
 

List of nuclear weapons tests

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests. This table contains only significant points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for testing purposes. In addition to nuclear explosions in the true sense of the word, countless tests were also conducted with nuclear weapons that intentionally or inadvertently failed to explode...
 

Atomwaffen A-Z

United States of America

According to the "Nuclear Notebook" (2024) by Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda, the US nuclear weapons arsenal currently contains 5.044 nuclear warheads. Of these, 1.770 are "active", i.e., ready for use - 1.370 on land- and sea-based ballistic missiles and 300 on strategic bomber bases in the United States, as well as another 100 tactical nuclear bombs in Europe. About 1.940 warheads are stored as "reserves" and can be brought into the "active" arsenal if necessary. 1.336 warheads are currently earmarked for disarmament...
 

Nuclear weapon states

There are nine nuclear weapons states, but only five are "recognized." The United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom - the states that also have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council - are named as "nuclear weapons states" in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because they exploded nuclear weapons before 1957. However, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea also possess nuclear weapons, although Israel does not admit to having them, and are therefore not members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty... 

21 May 1946 (INES-4) Los Alamos, NM, USA

Louis Slotin died due to an accident at Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Demon Core)
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia

Louis Slotin

In the Nuclear weapons factory in Los Alamos , Canadian physicist Louis Slotin carried out tests on the criticality of plutonium in the presence of several scientists. The experimental setup consisted of a subcritical plutonium core weighing approximately 6 kg (the same one that was used in the Accident in 1945 was involved and who was subsequently referred to as “DemonCore") and two hemispherical shells made of beryllium, which served as neutron reflectors and could enclose the core. 

[...] On May 21, 1946, Slotin, in the presence of seven colleagues, conducted a fateful experiment, similar to the one already carried out by his colleague and friend Daghlian had fallen victim. He wanted to show his colleague Alvin Graves how to carry out criticality experiments. Two hemispherical shells made of beryllium were arranged around a plutonium core and Slotin tried to bring the hemispherical shells so close together that a chain reaction was triggered. Beryllium reflects the neutrons and thus strengthens the chain reaction. To do this, he tilted the upper hemispherical shell with his left thumb, which he had inserted into a thumb hole, and kept a small gap open between them with a screwdriver that he had inserted between the two hemispherical shells. To do this, he removed the spacers that would otherwise have been used, which would have prevented the shells from colliding. He planned to slowly decrease the distance by turning the screwdriver until the desired effect was seen. At 15:20 p.m., however, the screwdriver slipped from his grasp and the upper hemispherical shell fell onto the lower one, causing the assembly to promptly become supercritical. The colleagues saw a blue glow and felt a surge of heat. Slotin also felt a sour taste in his mouth and a burning sensation in his left hand. He involuntarily jerked his hand upwards, causing the two hemispherical shells to separate again and the chain reaction to end. However, the supercritical excursion was ended beforehand by the thermal expansion of the apparatus.

Slotin had received a lethal dose of 21 Sieverts of gamma and neutron radiation during the brief period when the device was supercritical. He was immediately taken to hospital, where he died of radiation sickness on May 30, 1946. The other seven people in the room also received high doses of radiation (estimated at 3,6 Sv to 0,3 Sv)...
 

List of accidents in nuclear facilities

The list of accidents in nuclear facilities names incidents that are to be classified as accidents of level 4 and higher within the framework of the international rating scale INES. Less serious incidents occur in the List of reportable events in German nuclear facilities and in the List of accidents in European nuclear facilities detected.

This list is limited to nuclear facilities. Accidents and risks that arise during the dismantling and further processing are therefore not included Uranium, in uranium oretailings dumps or -tailings lakes have occurred, such as the one that occurred in 1979 Breach of a tailings lake dam in the USA, which released more radioactivity than the one included in this list Three Mile Island-Accident ... 

1945

The 2. world war ends September 2, 1945

Federal Agency for Civic Education - bpb.de

final phase and end of the war

[...] On September 2, 1945, the Secretary of State and the Chief of the General Staff signed the corresponding documents on an American battleship anchored in Tokyo Bay, in the presence of the US Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur and other Allied representatives. Almost exactly six years after its outbreak in Europe, the Second World War had come to an end in the Far East. 

Aug 21, 1945 (INES-4) Los Alamos, NM, USA

Harry Daghlian died due to an accident at Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Demon Core)
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia

Harry Daghlian

Harry K. Daghlian Jr. worked on the Omega site of the Nuclear weapons factory in Los Alamos and created a supercritical mass when he accidentally hit a tungsten carbide block on a plutonium core (DemonCore) dropped.

When Daghlian moved the last cuboid over the structure with his left hand at 21:55 p.m. - the total reflector mass with this cuboid would have been 236 kg - he determined with the help of the neutron counter that this cuboid would have made the structure supercritical. When he then withdrew his hand, the cuboid slipped from his grasp and fell into the center of the structure. This suddenly increased the reflection of the neutrons and the system promptly became “supercritical”. A performance excursion ensued, and Daghlian instinctively immediately removed the cuboid with his right hand, which was enveloped in a bluish glow...

During the incident, he received a fatal dose of radiation and died on September 15, 1945...
 

List of accidents in nuclear facilities

The list of accidents in nuclear facilities names incidents that are to be classified as accidents of level 4 and higher within the framework of the international rating scale INES. Less serious incidents occur in the List of reportable events in German nuclear facilities and in the List of accidents in European nuclear facilities detected.

This list is limited to nuclear facilities. Accidents and risks that arise during the dismantling and further processing are therefore not included Uranium, in uranium oretailings dumps or -tailings lakes have occurred, such as the one that occurred in 1979 Breach of a tailings lake dam in the USA, which released more radioactivity than the one included in this list Three Mile Island-Accident ... 

August 9, 1945 (second atomic bomb dropped by the USA) Nagasaki, JPN

Wikipedia

Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, were the only uses of nuclear weapons in a war to date.

The atomic bomb explosions killed a total of approximately 100.000 people immediately—almost exclusively civilians and forced laborers abducted by the Japanese army. A further 1945 people died from the effects of the bombs by the end of 130.000. Many more died in the following years. Japan currently reports the total number of deaths, including those from radiation sickness and injuries, as 344.306 for Hiroshima and 198.785 for Nagasaki (as of August 2024).
 

9 August 1945 - Fat Man

A plutonium bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945, by a US B-29 bomber belonging to the 509th Composite Group and exploded at 11:02 a.m. over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, which was largely destroyed. The bomb exploded about 550 meters above a densely populated area ...
 

The nuclear chain

Nagasaki, Japan

nuclear attack

On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, with a population of more than 240.000. The explosion resulted in the immediate deaths of approximately 22.000 people. Those who survived the attack were left without assistance because hospitals and infrastructure had been destroyed. More than 64.000 people had died by the end of the year as a result of the atomic bomb. To this day, many survivors suffer from the long-term effects of radiation.

Background

Just three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which on the day of the attack caused an estimated 45.000 deaths and 91.000 injuries, a second B-29 bomber took off from the US base on the island of Tinian. This time, the target was supposed to be the industrial city of Kokura. However, due to bad weather, the pilot had to divert to a secondary target: Nagasaki, the cultural and port city with its important Mitsubishi factories. The nuclear warhead, nicknamed "Fat Man" because of its bulky shape, weighed about 4,5 tons, was 4,5 meters long, and had an explosive yield of about 22.000 tons of TNT equivalent. "Fat Man" was dropped at 11:02 a.m. local time over a densely populated neighborhood and exploded about 500 meters above the ground...
 

Atomwaffen A-Z

Nagasaki

Nagasaki's population at the time of the bombing is estimated at between 240.000 and 260.000 people. In Nagasaki, approximately 30 percent of the population was located within 2.000 meters or less of the hypocenter. At 11:2 a.m. local time, the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki from the B-29 aircraft dubbed "Bock's Car." The Nagasaki atomic bomb was nicknamed "Fat Man" because of its shape. It contained plutonium 239, was 4,5 meters long, had a diameter of 1,5 meters, and weighed 4,5 tons. The explosive force of the atomic bomb was equivalent to 22 kilotons of TNT... 

August 6, 1945 (first atomic bomb dropped by the USA) Hiroshima, JPN

The nuclear chain

Hiroshima, Japan

nuclear attack

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the center of the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Of the 350.000 inhabitants, approximately 140.000 died by the end of the year. The survivors, the "Hibakusha," suffered long-term effects of the radiation, including significantly increased cancer rates.

Background

During World War II, the United States produced three atomic bombs. After the first successful test of a nuclear weapon, the Trinity test on July 16, 1945, the remaining two bombs were to be dropped on Japanese cities. On August 6, 1945, the uranium bomb "Little Boy" was detonated over Hiroshima, followed on August 9, 1945, by the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" over Nagasaki. In Hiroshima, the famous Aioi Bridge, located in the middle of a densely populated commercial and residential area, was chosen as the target coordinate. "Little Boy" exploded at a height of 580 meters with an explosive force equivalent to approximately 15.000 tons of TNT...
 

Atomwaffen A-Z

Hiroshima

At the time of the bombing, Hiroshima's resident population was estimated at 280.000-290.000 people, with 43.000 military personnel remaining in the city. In addition, there were an estimated 20.000 Korean and Chinese forced labourers and US prisoners of war ...
 

Wikipedia

Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, were the only uses of nuclear weapons in a war to date.

The atomic bomb explosions killed a total of approximately 100.000 people immediately—almost exclusively civilians and forced laborers abducted by the Japanese army. A further 1945 people died from the effects of the bombs by the end of 130.000. Many more died in the following years. Japan currently reports the total number of deaths, including those from radiation sickness and injuries, as 344.306 for Hiroshima and 198.785 for Nagasaki (as of August 2024).
 

6 August 1945 - Little Boy

The nuclear weapon with a charge of uranium was developed in early 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project and achieved an explosive force of about 13 kilotons of TNT.

Between 20.000 and 90.000 people died immediately in the nuclear explosion and the firestorm it triggered; many of the survivors (“Hibakusha”) still suffer from the long-term effects of the radioactive exposure they absorbed... 

July 16, 1945 (1st atomic bomb test) Trinity, NM, USA

Since 1945, over 2050 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out worldwide, which could be a possible explanation for the steadily increasing number of cancer cases.
 

IPPNW Report - August 2023 - Nuclear Weapons Tests - (PDF file)

... Aboveground tests were conducted at several Atolls in the Pacific Ocean in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, on traditional land of the Western Shoshone in Nevada, USA, on Aboriginal land in Australian Outback, on the land of the indigenous Nenetz in the Russian Arctic, in the territory of nomads in the Algerian Sahara, in Uighur region in China and elsewhere. Residents were often evacuated late or not at all, and were not informed about the effects of the tests. Radioactive fallout fell as dust and rain, contaminating drinking water and locally produced food...
 

The nuclear chain

Alamogordo, USA

Nuclear weapons test

The world's first atomic explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, near the small U.S. town of Alamogordo. This marked the beginning of the atomic age and the beginning of widespread radioactive contamination of the Earth.

Background

Alamogordo is a small town in the U.S. state of New Mexico. In the nearby Jornada del Muerto desert lies the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range, the test site for the first atomic bomb in history. The so-called "Trinity Test" was part of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. nuclear weapons research program launched in 1939. The project was conducted simultaneously at several locations: While the atomic bombs were being developed in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the enrichment of uranium-235 took place in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Plutonium-239 was produced in Hanford, Washington, and the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, was chosen as the test site.

After years of preparation, on July 14, 1945, the world's first atomic weapon, a plutonium implosion bomb codenamed "Gadget," was hoisted onto a 30-meter-high scaffold. Its design was identical to the "Fat Man" bomb, which would be dropped on Nagasaki just a few weeks later. Scientists and military personnel observed the first atomic explosion from a distance of 10 to 32 kilometers. At 5:29:45 a.m. on July 16, 1945, the bomb was detonated with a yield of 20 kilotons. After a blinding flash of light, a mushroom cloud shot 12 kilometers into the air. The shock wave from the detonation was felt as far away as 250 kilometers. "Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds," were the famous words of nuclear scientist J.R. Oppenheimer upon witnessing the explosion. Trinity was the first of more than 2.000 nuclear tests that contaminated the Earth's atmosphere with radioactive fallout...
 

Wikipedia

Trinity Test

The Trinity test was the first nuclear weapon explosion ever conducted. The test was conducted on July 16, 1945, at 05:29:45 a.m. local time by the United States as part of the Manhattan Project, the United States' nuclear weapons development project. Trinity was the US military code name for this experiment. The weapon's code name was The Gadget.
 

List of nuclear weapons tests

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests. This table contains only significant points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for testing purposes. In addition to nuclear explosions in the true sense of the word, countless tests were also conducted with nuclear weapons that intentionally or inadvertently failed to explode.

[...] Between 1945 and 1992, the USA conducted 1.039 nuclear tests, 210 atmospheric tests, 815 underground tests, and 5 underwater tests...
 

Atomwaffen A - Z

Trinity nuclear test

The plutonium bomb detonated during the Trinity nuclear test was the same type of bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, killing 4 people within four months...
 

United States of America

According to the "Nuclear Notebook" (2024) by Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda, the US nuclear weapons arsenal currently contains 5.044 nuclear warheads. Of these, 1.770 are "active", i.e., ready for use - 1.370 on land- and sea-based ballistic missiles and 300 on strategic bomber bases in the United States, as well as another 100 tactical nuclear bombs in Europe. About 1.940 warheads are stored as "reserves" and can be brought into the "active" arsenal if necessary. 1.336 warheads are currently earmarked for disarmament... 

In Europe it ends 2. world war on May 8, 1945 ...

Federal Agency for Civic Education - bpb.de

final phase and end of the war

[...] Finally, on May 7, 1945, Colonel General Jodel, acting on behalf of Dönitz, declared the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims. It took effect the following day and ended the Second World War in Europe... 

1944

The 2. world war rages ... 

1943

The 2. world war rages ...
 

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Work on the Hanford Engineer Works (HEW) began in March 1943.

Wikipedia

Hanford site

Even before the end of the war in August 1945, 554 buildings were erected in Hanford:

- three reactors (100-B, 100-D, and 100-F)

- three plutonium processing plants (200-T, 200-B, and 200-U)

- 64 underground tanks for highly radioactive waste

- uranium enrichment plants

- 621 km of road

- 254 km of railway line

- 4 electrical distribution stations

- plus hundreds of kilometers of fences.

This required 600.000 m³ of concrete and 40.000 tons of steel at a total cost of 230 million US dollars. Hanford is considered the most radioactively contaminated place in the Western Hemisphere... 

1942

The 2. world war rages ...

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Wikipedia

Chicago Pile 1

Chicago Pile refers to a series of experimental reactors. The first three of these reactors were part of the Manhattan Project, whose goal was to build atomic bombs.

When the Chicago Pile 1 (English pile, pile '), short CP-1, reached criticality, he was the first functional man-made nuclear reactor. The pilot plant was built by the Metallurgical Laboratory at the private University of Chicago. It should confirm the theoretical expectation that a self-sustaining fission chain reaction can be controlled. The metallurgical laboratory was founded in 1942 by Arthur Holly Compton, a winner of the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics. The reactor development had the goal of breeding weapons-grade plutonium from uranium-238 for the Manhattan project ... 
 

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June 23, 1942 (?) Uranium machine Leipzig, Germany

The INES scale didn't exist back then, but by today's standards, the release of radioactive material into the environment would be considered at least as INES-3 be classified ...
 

Wikipedia

The first nuclear incident in history

This occurred on June 23, 1942, during the Leipzig L-IV experiment in a laboratory at the Physics Institute of the University of Leipzig. A steam explosion and a reactor fire occurred in the "uranium machine", a primitive form of research reactor.

L-IV was the fourth attempt in a series, which was made by Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) and Robert Döpel (1895–1982) was carried out as part of the German uranium project. The “Uranium machine“ it consisted of a metal sphere with a diameter of 80 centimeters. 750 kilograms of uranium powder were distributed in two spherical shells around a central neutron source. Heavy water was placed between them.

Although signs of criticality (an increase in neutrons) appeared during twenty days of testing, the setup had to be examined for a possible transition of heavy water into the uranium. During this examination, air penetrated the reactor and ignited the uranium powder inside. The burning uranium caused the water jacket to boil, generating enough steam pressure to explode the reactor. Burning uranium powder spread throughout the laboratory, triggering a major fire in the facility. The fire department had to intervene. The fire was not extinguished until 45 hours later.

There were no injuries, and no long-term health effects are known. Within the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), the incident falls between categories 2 (incident) and 3 (serious incident).
 

Jun. 23, 1942 - University of Leipzig

In the laboratory of experimental physicist Prof. Robert Döpel, a so-called uranium machine exploded, burning the uranium powder used. 

[...] Although the fire was relatively small, the firefighting efforts by the fire protection police lasted two days. During this time, the emergency responders did not wear respirators, causing them to inhale radioactive material...   

1941

The 2. world war rages ...

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On December 07, 1941, Japanese naval aircraft attacked the American port 'Pearl Harbor' on Hawaii, on December 08, 1941, the USA officially entered World War II.

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On February 24, 1941, chemist Arthur Wahl provided definitive proof of element 94 (plutonium). 

1940

The 2. world war rages ...

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December 14, 1940 Plutonium discovered by the Americans Glenn T. Seaborg, JW Kennedy, EM McMillan, Michael Cefola and Arthur Wahl, they produced the isotope 238Pu by bombarding uranium 238U with deuterium in a cyclotron ...

The Second World War began on September 01st, 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. At that time, Japan was in a border war with the Soviet Union (1938/39) and in East Asia, since the Marco Polo Bridge incident on 07.07.1937/XNUMX/XNUMX, at war with China...

On August 02nd, 1939 Albert Einstein signed a letter to US President Roosevelt warning the President of a German atomic bomb. Einstein later described this letter and his signature below as his "biggest mistake".

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