A scary video

[LunarOrbit]

Here is a video that shows every nuclear weapons detonation on Earth between 1945 and 1998. There have been tests since then by North Korea as well.

I'd like to see that final map compared with a map of cancer rates during the same time period. 

http://blip.tv/play/AeaDFAI

[DonPMitchell]

Wow, we really bombed the heck out of Nevada.

[LunarOrbit]

I was surprised to learn that some of the UK's tests were done in Nevada also. I guess it makes sense seeing that they don't have much land area of their own to do that kind of testing.

[ijuin]

Well, given the choice between detonating them in a nearly lifeless desert a couple hundred kilometers away from anything that you might care to keep alive, and detonating them anywhere else on or near Earth's surface, I'll take the desert. Testing nukes outside of Earth's atmosphere is currently prohibited by treaty, so it's either the desert (or underground beneath the desert), or you will poison something somewhere (as with ocean testing in the late 40s/early 50s such as Bikini Atoll).

[Satanic Mechanic]

Just some notes and observations:
-Interesting video.  It reminds me of that world war game.  Some of the dates were incorrect.  I noticed that the "Vela Incident" test was not listed. 

-The U.S. no longer conducts these tests since we have other methods to test our stockpiles. 

-Both North Korean devices have fizzled.  Seismographs show the devices going prompt critical but they drop off quick.  The neutrons were going too fast and could not sustain the reaction.  The NorKo's first claimed it was a successful test but later backpedaled and said it was a sub-critical test.

-Ijuin is right about the ban on above ground testing.  The Limited Test Ban Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty put an end to that. 

-As for cancer rates, nobody knows about the effects of the above ground tests.  I know the people who lived near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation ( where Plutonium was made, I live 80 miles away from it) are still in court about being exposed to the radioactive materials.

SM

[LunarOrbit]

I thought it was interesting how detonations in the USSR would be followed by detonations in the US (or vice versa), almost like they were communicating using their bomb tests ("Yeah, we saw your test... now watch this!").

As for cancer rates, nobody knows about the effects of the above ground tests.

I'm sure you know this already, but the 1956 movie "The Conqueror" was filmed near a nuclear test site (I'm not sure how close exactly, but I would say "too close"). Of the 200 people who worked on the movie, 91 were diagnosed with cancer by the 1980s, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and the director Dick Powell. I'm thinking a 45% cancer rate among a group that size is more than just a coincidence.

I personally find it hard to believe the effects of an above ground detonations would remain limited to the site. Maybe it will take decades for radioactive dust to be spread across the country (or around the world) by the wind, but how long does the radioactivity last? Anyhow, I'm glad they realized that it's better to test deep underground.

[Satanic Mechanic]

I'm sure you know this already, but the 1956 movie "The Conqueror" was filmed near a nuclear test site (I'm not sure how close exactly, but I would say "too close"). Of the 200 people who worked on the movie, 91 were diagnosed with cancer by the 1980s, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and the director Dick Powell. I'm thinking a 45% cancer rate among a group that size is more than just a coincidence.

I personally find it hard to believe the effects of an above ground detonations would remain limited to the site. Maybe it will take decades for radioactive dust to be spread across the country (or around the world) by the wind, but how long does the radioactivity last? Anyhow, I'm glad they realized that it's better to test deep underground.

Yep, I know about the movie.  It could of have been the cigarettes too, John Wayne smoked a lot .  I am sure their proximity to a hot zone compounded it.

Actually the fallout spreads pretty fast, lot of stuff gets blown into the stratosphere and the jetstream.  Hell, Dyson got the idea for his nuclear bomb propulsion by watching the cover get blown off while doing an underground test.

Yes, some of the tests were saber rattling.  If you saw a bunch of tests in a short amount of time, it means they were testing variations of a design to see what delivered the highest yield.

SM

[DonPMitchell]

There was a lot of diplomacy going on when temporary test bans, which would then get broken by the US or USSR, so I think that's why you see pauses and bursts of testing.   Most of the US and Soviet tests were underground.

You can see the massive number of craters on Google Earth:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=43349

[surlalune]

Yikes! Over 2,000 detonations. Pretty chilling!

[DonPMitchell]

I think nuclear weapons actually did prevent major super-power warfare, but I am hoping that globalization will bring peace in a more positive way, instead of just the fear of nuclear anihilation.

The the USA, nuclear ICBMs are still the cheapest way to keep the country safe.  It's really just the crazy people and crazy religions that we have to worry about, that might still trigger a terribly destructive event.

[Johno]

Sadly, there are plenty of crazies, and it only takes one.