Fizzle (nuclear test)

For other meanings see Fizzle.

In nuclear weapons, a fizzle occurs when the testing of a nuclear bomb fails to meet its expected yield. The reason(s) for the failure can be linked to improper bomb design, poor construction, or lack of expertise. All countries that have had a nuclear weapons testing program have experienced fizzles. A fizzle can spread radioactive material throughout the surrounding area, involve a partial fission reaction of the fissile material, or both. For practical purposes, a fizzle can still have considerable explosive yield when compared to conventional weapons. These considerations were taken into account at the first Trinity test by a vessel named Jumbo.

Fusion boosting

If a deuterium-tritium mixture is placed at the center of the device to be compressed and heated by the fission explosion, a fission yield of 250 tons is sufficient to cause D-T fusion releasing high-energy fusion neutrons which will then fission much of the remaining fission fuel. This is known as a boosted fission weapon. If a fission device designed for boosting is tested without the boost gas, a yield in the sub-kiloton range may indicate a successful test that the device's implosion and primary fission stages are working as designed, though of course this does not test the boosting process itself.

Nuclear tests considered to be fizzles

Tower for the Upshot Knothole – Ruth test. The explosion failed even to level the testing tower, only somewhat damaging it.

• Buster Able – Considered to be the first known failure of any nuclear device.
• Upshot-Knothole Ruth – Testing a uranium hydride bomb. The test failed to declassify the site (erase evidence) as it left the bottom third of the 300-foot (91 m) shot tower still standing. The Ray test conducted the following month was allegedly shot on a shorter 100-foot (30 m) tower to ensure that the tower would be completely destroyed.
• Castle Koon – a thermonuclear device whose fusion secondary did not ignite
• Short Granite – Dropped by the United Kingdom over Malden Island on May 15, 1957 during Operation Grapple 1, this bomb had an expected yield of over 1 megaton, but only exploded with a force of a quarter of the anticipated yield. The test was still considered successful. Another bomb dropped during Grapple 1, Purple Granite, was hoped to give an improved yield over Short Granite, but the yield was even lower.
• 2006 North Korean nuclear test – Russia claimed to have measured 5-15 kt yield, whereas the United States, France, and South Korea measured less than 1 kt yield. This North Korean debut test was weaker than all other countries' initial tests by a factor of 20, and the smallest initial test in history.

Terrorist concerns

One month after the September 11, 2001 attacks, a CIA informant known as "Dragonfire" reported that al-Qaeda had smuggled a low-yield nuclear weapon into New York City. Although the report was found to be false, concerns were expressed that a "fizzle bomb" capable of yielding a fraction of the known 10 kiloton weapons could cause “horrific” consequences, and that it could kill thousands.

See also

• List of nuclear tests
• Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
• Uranium hydride bomb
• Dirty bomb

External links

• Not a bomb or a dud but a fizzle Ian Hoffman, Oakland Tribune, October 9, 2006.
• Nuclear Weapons, howthingswork.virginia.edu
• MILNET: Nuclear Weapon Detonation