Nuclear Tests Photo Gallery

This photo gallery showcases nuclear tests and other atomic explosions including atmospheric nuclear tests and underground nuclear tests.

Trinity Explosion

Trinity was part of the Manhattan Project. Very few color images of the Trinity explosion exist. This is one of several spectacular black and white photos. This photo was taken 0.016 seconds after the explosion, July 16, 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Trinity was the code name of the first successful nuclear test. The test name was chosen by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project, in reference to a poem by John Donne. The Trinity test was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945. The device used for the test was named "The Gadget" and was an implosion plutonium device. The detonation released energy of 22 kilotons of TNT or 92 TJ.

Trinity Nuclear Explosion

Photos of Atomic Explosions "Trinity" was the first nuclear test explosion. This famous photograph was taken by Jack Aeby, July 16, 1945, a member of the Special Engineering Detachment at Los Alamos laboratory, working on the Manhattan Project. US Department of Energy

Operation Castle - Romeo Event

Photos of Atomic Explosions The 11-megaton Romeo Event was part of Operation Castle. Romeo was detonated from a barge near Bikini atoll on March 26, 1954. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Castle was a United States nuclear test at the Bikini Atoll that started in March 1945. The seven experiments in Operation Castle were Bravo, Union, Yankee, Echo, Nectar, Romeo, and Koon. The operation was considered to be a successful test of dry fuel devices.

Operation Upshot-Knothole - Grable Event

Photos of Atomic Explosions The Grable Event took place May 25, 1953 as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. The first atomic artillery shell was fired from a 280 mm gun, airburst, weapons related, 15 kiloton. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Upshot-Knothole - Badger Event

This is the fireball from the Badger nuclear test. — Nuclear Explosions This is the fireball from the Badger nuclear test, which took place April 18, 1953 at the Nevada Test Site. Department of Energy, Nevada Site Office

Operation Buster-Jangle - Charlie Event

Charlie Test, Operation Buster-Jangle — Photos of Atomic Explosions The Charlie test explosion resulted from a 14 kiloton device dropped from a B-50 bomber on October 30, 1951 at Yucca Flat the Nevada Test Site. (Operation Buster-Jangle). US Department of Energy

Operation Crossroads - Baker Event

The Baker Event of Operation Crossroads was a 21 kiloton underwater nuclear weapons effects test. — Photos of Atomic Explosions The Baker Event of Operation Crossroads was a 21 kiloton underwater nuclear weapons effects test conducted at Bikini Atoll (1946). Note the ships that are visible in the photo. US Govt. Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Operation Plumbbob - Priscilla Event

The Priscilla Event (Operation Plumbbob) was a 37 kiloton device exploded from a balloon. — Photos of Atomic Explosions The Priscilla Event (Operation Plumbbob) was a 37 kiloton device exploded from a balloon at the Nevada Test Site, June 24, 1957. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Hardtack - Umbrella Event

The Umbrella event was an explosion resulting from a shallow depth underwater shot. — Photos of Atomic Explosions The Umbrella event was an explosion resulting from a shallow depth underwater shot (150 ft.), June 8, 1958, at Enewetak. The yield was 8 kilotons. US Department of Energy

Operation Redwing - Dakota Event

This is a photo of the U.S. nuclear test "Dakota" during Operation Redwing, June 26, 1956. Dakota was a 1.1 megaton yield explosion at the Bikini Atoll. Nuclear Weapon Archive

Operation Teapot Test

The National Nuclear Security Administration refers to this image as an Operation Teapot test, so I'm not positive which event this is. The lines that you see in this and several other photos are vapor trails of sounding rockets. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Sounding rockets or smoke flares may be launched just before a device explodes so that their vapor trails may be used to record the passage of the otherwise invisible shock wave.

Operation Teapot - Wasp Prime

Operation Teapot's Wasp Prime was an air-dropped nuclear device at Nevada Test Site March 29, 1955. — Operation Teapot's Wasp Prime was an air-dropped nuclear device that exploded at the Nevada Test Site on March 29, 1955. I don't think hiding behind a joshua tree conferred much protection. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Ivy - Mike Event

Operation Ivy's "Mike" shot exploded on Enewetak in 1952. — Operation Ivy's "Mike" shot was an experimental thermonuclear device that was fired on Enewetak on October 31, 1952. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Ivy was the eighth series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States. It in involved two explosions in 1952 at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Ivy Mike was the first successful test of a multi-megaton hydrogen bomb.

Operation Ivy - Mike Event

Nuclear Explosions The 3-1/4 mile diameter fireball from Mike was the largest ever produced. The destructive effects were so great that the test island disappeared. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

Operation Ivy - King Event

This photo was taken from a distance from Operation Ivy's King explosion. — This photo was taken from a distance from Operation Ivy's King explosion, which resulted from a weapons related air-drop on Enewetak on 11/15/1952. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

King was the second test in Operation Ivy. It relied solely on nuclear fission (no fusion). It had a yield of 500 kilotons, which was 25 times more powerful than the Fat Man bomb.

Hiroshima Atomic Mushroom Cloud

This is a photo of the mushroom cloud resulting from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. — This is a photo of the mushroom cloud resulting from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan 08/06/1945. At the time this picture was taken, the rising column extends 20,000 feet in the air while the blast on the ground radiates out 10,000 feet. US National Archives

Six planes from the 509th Composite Group participated in the bombing mission that ultimately detonated an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The plane that carried the bomb was the Enola Gay. The mission of The Great Artiste was to take scientific measurements. Necessary Evil photographed the mission. Three other planes flew about an hour ahead of the Enola Gay, The Great Artiste, and Necessary Evil to scout the weather. Visual delivery was required for this mission, so overcast conditions would disqualify the target. The primary target was Hiroshima. The secondary target was Kokura. The tertiary target was Nagasaki.

Hiroshima Atomic Cloud

This is a photo of the atomic cloud from the bombing of Hiroshima. — This is a photo of the atomic cloud from the bombing of Hiroshima, taken through a window of one of the three B-29s on the bombing run. US Air Force

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Explosion

This is a photo taken of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. The picture was taken from one of the B-29 Superfortresses used in the attack. Yanker Poster Collection (Library of Congress)

Tumbler Snapper Rope Tricks

This photo of a Tumbler-Snapper nuclear test shows a fireball and rope trick effects. — Nuclear Explosions This nuclear detonation from the Tumbler-Snapper test series (Nevada, 1952) shows a fireball and 'rope trick' effects. This photo was taken less than 1 millisecond after nuclear detonation. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The 'rope trick effect' refers to the lines and spikes which emanate from the bottom of the fireball of some nuclear explosions just after detonation. The rope trick results from the heating, vaporization, and expansion of mooring cables that extend from the housing that contains the explosive device. Physicist John Malik noted that when the rope was painted black, spike formation was enhanced. If the cables were coated with reflective paint or were wrapped in aluminum foil, then no spikes were observed. This confirmed the hypothesis that the visible radiation heated and vaporized the rope and caused the effect. Underground, atmospheric, and surface-detonated explosions do not display the rope trick - because there is no rope.

Tumbler-Snapper Charlie

Joe-1 Atomic Blast

First Soviet atomic bomb test First Lightning or Joe-1.

Joe 4 Nuclear Test

This is a photograph of the RDS-6s device or Joe 4. — This is a photograph of the RDS-6s device, the fifth Soviet nuclear test which was called Joe 4 in the US. unknown, believed to be public domain

Joe 4 was a tower-type test. The RDS-6s employed the sloika or layer cake design which was a U-235 fissile core surrounded by alternating layers of fusion fuel and tamper inside of a high-explosive implosion unit. The fuel was lithium-6 deuteride spiked with tritium. The fusion tamper was natural uranium. A ~40 kiloton U-235 fission bomb acted as the trigger. The total yield of Joe 4 was 400 Kt. 15-20% of the energy was directly released by fusion. 90% of the energy was related to the fusion reaction.

Nuclear Explosion in Space

Hardtack-Orange Shot, Aug 12, 1958. — U.S. Nuclear Tests This is a photo of the Hardtack-Orange nuclear explosion, one of the few nuclear shots into space. 3.8 Mt, 43 km, Johnston Atoll, Pacific Ocean. Hardtack was a US high-altitude nuclear test. The Soviets conducted similar tests. US Government

Another high-altitude test, Starfish Prime, was the largest nuclear test ever conducted by the United States in space. It was conducted on July 9, 1962 as part of Operation Fishbowl.