Test No. 6
| Test No. 6 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Country | China |
| Test site | Lop Nur Test Base |
| Period | June 17, 1967 |
| Number of tests | 1 |
| Test type | Atmospheric |
| Device type | Fusion |
| Max. yield | 3.3 megatons of TNT (14 PJ) |
| Test chronology | |
Test No. 6 is the codename for China's first test of a three-staged thermonuclear device and, also its sixth nuclear weapons test.
Development
The device was detonated at Lop Nur Test Base, or often dubbed as Lop Nur Nuclear Weapon Test Base, in Malan, Xinjiang, on 17 June 1967. With successful testing of this three-stage thermonuclear device, China became the fourth country to have successfully developed a thermonuclear weapon after the United States, Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. It was dropped from a Hong-6 (Chinese manufactured Tu-16) and was parachute-retarded for an airburst at 2960 meters. The bomb was a three-stage device with a boosted U-235 primary and U-238 pusher. The yield was 3.3 megatons.
The film of the prior 1966 tests have been released, as well as a unidentified later test.[1]
It was a fully functional, full-scale, three-stage hydrogen bomb, tested 32 months after China had made its first fission device. This is the fastest of any country to develop this capability.
China had received extensive technical help from the Soviet Union to jump-start their nuclear program, but by 1960, the rift between the Soviet Union and China had become so great that the Soviet Union ceased all assistance to China and refused to help the Chinese government with their nuclear program.[2] The Number 6 test was classified as an independent endeavor, after the induced military and economic sanctions enacted by the superpowers at the time, the United States and the Soviet Union did not prevent them from successfully testing the weapon.
The goal of China was to produce a thermonuclear device of at least a megaton in yield that could be dropped by an aircraft or carried by a ballistic missile. Several explosions to test thermonuclear weapon designs, characteristics and yield boosting preceded the thermonuclear test.[2]
See also
- 816 Nuclear Military Plant
- List of Chinese nuclear tests
- List of states with nuclear weapons
- Teller–Ulam design
References
Citations
- ^ wolfkinler (2013-04-08), 中国的核试验1966, retrieved 2018-01-24
- ^ a b "China's Nuclear Weapon Development, Modernization and Testing". Nuclear Threat Initiative. September 26, 2003. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
Sources
- Books
- Norris, Robert, Burrows, Andrew, Fieldhouse, Richard. Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume V, British, French and Chinese Nuclear Weapons. San Francisco, CA: Westview Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8133-1612-X.