| Nuclear tests | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Country | North Korea |
| Test site | Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, North Korea |
| Period | 2006–2017 |
| Number of tests | 6 |
| Test type | underground |
| Max. yield | |
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009, 2013, twice in 2016, and in 2017.
| Sequence | Date time (UT) | Local time zone [note 1] [7] | Location | Elevation + height | Delivery | Yield [note 2] | Fallout [note 3] | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | 9 October 2006 01:35:27 | KST (+9 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°17′06″N129°06′30″E / 41.28505°N 129.1084°E | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), −310 m (−1,020 ft) | underground | 0.7–2 kt | [8] | |
| ||||||||
| (2) | 25 May 2009 00:54:43 | KST (+9 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°17′29″N129°04′54″E / 41.29142°N 129.08167°E | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), −490 m (−1,610 ft) | underground | 2–5.4 kt | [11] [12] | |
| ||||||||
| (3) | 12 February 2013 02:57:51 | KST (+9 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°16′05″N129°04′51″E / 41.26809°N 129.08076°E | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), −1,000 m (−3,300 ft) | underground | 6–16 kt | [11] [13] | |
| ||||||||
| (4) | 6 January 2016 01:30:01 | PYT (+8:30 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°18′32″N129°02′02″E / 41.30900°N 129.03399°E | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), −1,000 m (−3,300 ft) | underground | 7–16.5 kt | [15] [16] | |
| ||||||||
| (5) | 9 September 2016 00:30:01 | PYT (+8:30 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°17′53″N129°00′54″E / 41.298°N 129.015°E [note 4] | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), −1,000 m (−3,300 ft) | underground | 15–25 kt | [19] [20] [21] | |
| ||||||||
| (6) | 3 September 2017 03:30:01.940 | PYT (+8:30 hrs) | Punggye-ri Test Site, North Korea 41°20′35″N129°02′10″E / 41.343°N 129.036°E | 1,340 m (4,400 ft), 0 m (0 ft) | underground | 70–280 kt | [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] | |
| ||||||||
| Series or years | Years covered | Tests [Summ 1] | Devices fired | Devices with unknown yield | Peaceful use tests | Non-PTBT tests [Summ 2] | Yield range (kilotons) [Summ 3] | Total yield (kilotons) [Summ 4] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nuclear tests | 2006–2017 | 6 | 6 | 0.7–250 | 197.8 | ||||
| Totals | 2006-Oct-9 to 2017-Sep-3 | 6 | 6 | 0.7–250 | 197.8 (Based on average yield from lower to upper estimates as the Government of DPRK does not announce the exact yield.) | Total country yield is 0.036% of all nuclear testing. |
North Korea has a military nuclear weapons program and, as of 2024, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 50 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of chemical and biological weapons. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since 2006, the country has conducted six nuclear tests at increasing levels of expertise, prompting the imposition of sanctions.
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Such tests have resulted until 2020 in up to 2.4 million people dying from its global fallout. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength. Many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status through a nuclear test.
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Operation Plumbbob was a series of nuclear tests that were conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site, following Project 57, and preceding Project 58/58A.
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lower mass, or a combination of these benefits. Characteristics of nuclear fusion reactions make possible the use of non-fissile depleted uranium as the weapon's main fuel, thus allowing more efficient use of scarce fissile material such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239. The first full-scale thermonuclear test was carried out by the United States in 1952, and the concept has since been employed by most of the world's nuclear powers in the design of their weapons.
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The Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests, also known as the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT), was signed in July 1974 by the United States and Soviet Union. It establishes a nuclear "threshold" by prohibiting nuclear tests of devices having a yield exceeding 150 kilotons after March 31, 1976.
The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted by North Korea on October 9, 2006.
Wen Lianxing is a Chinese seismologist and geophysicist. He is a professor at Stony Brook University and the University of Science and Technology of China. He was awarded the James B. Macelwane Medal in 2003 and elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.
The 2009 North Korean nuclear test was the underground detonation of a nuclear device conducted on Monday, 25 May 2009 by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This was its second nuclear test, the first test having taken place in October 2006. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 2.35 kilotons.
On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. A tremor that exhibited a nuclear bomb signature with an initial magnitude 4.9 was detected by the China Earthquake Networks Center, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the United States Geological Survey. In response, Japan summoned an emergency United Nations meeting for 12 February and South Korea raised its military alert status. It is not known whether the explosion was nuclear, or a conventional explosion designed to mimic a nuclear blast; as of two days after the blast, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean investigators had failed to detect any radiation.
Sungjibaegam is a locality in Paegam County, Ryanggang Province in North Korea. It is associated with Paegam-rodongjagu. It is about 35 km south of Paegam Town, also part of the county.
Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site was the only known nuclear test site of North Korea. Nuclear tests were conducted at the site in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear detonation on 6 January 2016 at 10:00:01 UTC+08:30. At the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Kilju City in Kilju County, an underground nuclear test was carried out. The United States Geological Survey reported a 5.1 magnitude earthquake from the location; the China Earthquake Networks Center reported the magnitude as 4.9.
The government of North Korea conducted a nuclear detonation on 9 September 2016, the fifth since 2006, at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Kilju City in Kilju County.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on 3 September 2017, stating it had tested a thermonuclear weapon. The United States Geological Survey reported an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude not far from North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site. South Korean authorities said the earthquake seemed to be artificial, consistent with an underground nuclear test. The USGS, as well as China Earthquake Networks Center, reported that the initial event was followed by a second, smaller, earthquake at the site, several minutes later, which was characterized as a collapse of the cavity formed by the initial detonation.
