A look into 10 largest nuclear explosions of all time
As the Cold War escalated in the years after WWII, the US and erstwhile Soviet Union became locked in a deadly nuclear race. There have been over 2,000 nuclear tests worldwide since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
As the Cold War escalated in the years after WWII, the US and erstwhile Soviet Union became locked in a deadly nuclear race. There have been over 2,000 nuclear tests worldwide since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Here’s how the 10 largest nuclear explosions of all time compare.
Tsar Bomba, also called Big Ivan, a specifically designed plane was required as it was too heavy to carry on conventional aircraft. The bomb was attached to a giant parachute to give the plane time to fly away.
Soviet Test #219, the atmospheric nuclear test was carried out using an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The bomb exploded at a height of 3.8km above sea level.
Soviet Tests #147, #174, #173, produced the third, fourth and fifth-most powerful explosions in history. Each yielded around 20,000 kilotons.
Due to a design error, Castle Bravo accidentally became the most powerful nuclear bomb tested by the US. It was tested at Bikini Atoll, a coral reef in the Pacific Marshall Islands.
Castle Yankee yielded much higher than the predicted 10,000 kilotons. Within four days of the blast, its fallout reached Mexico City, roughly 11,400km away.
Soviet Test #123 yielded 12,500 kilotons of explosive energy.
Castle Romeo was the first-ever conducted on a barge in the ocean and produced more than double its predicted explosive energy of 4,000 kilotons.
Ivy Mike, weighing about 63,503 kg, this was the first-ever hydrogen bomb to be detonated. The explosion was 700 times more powerful than Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
