List of nuclear weapons tests of Pakistan

Last updated
Chagai-I
Information
CountryPakistan
Test siteRas Koh, Pakistan
Period1998
Number of tests1 (5 Devices fired)
Test type Underground tests (tunnel)
Device type Fission
Max. yield32 kilotonnes of TNT (130 TJ)
Map all coordinatesin "Chagai I" using: OpenStreetMap  
Download coordinates as: KML

The nuclear weapons tests of Pakistan refers to a test programme directed towards the development of nuclear explosives and investigation of the effects of nuclear explosions. The programme was suggested by Munir Ahmad Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), as early as 1977. [1]

Contents

The first subcritical testing was carried out in 1983 by PAEC, codenamed Kirana-I, and continued until the 1990s under the government of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. [1] [2] Further claims of conducting subcritical tests at Kahuta were made in 1984 by the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) but were dismissed by the Government of Pakistan.

The Pakistan Government, under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, authorized the programme jointly under PAEC and KRL, assisted by the Corps of Engineers in 1998. There were six nuclear tests performed under this programme, codenamed Chagai-I, and Chagai-II. After the Prime Minister of India, Atal Vajpayee made a state visit to Pakistan to meet with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, both countries signed a nuclear testing control treaty, the Lahore Declaration in 1999. [3]

Testing series

Chagai-I

The Pakistan's Chagai-I nuclear test series was a single nuclear test conducted in 1998.

Pakistan's Chagai I series tests and detonations
These five devices constitute a single salvo test under the definition of "test" in List of nuclear weapons tests.
Name [n 1] Date time (UT)Local time zone [n 2] [4] Location [n 3] Elevation + height [n 4] Delivery, [n 5]
Purpose [n 6] 		Device [n 7] Yield [n 8] Fallout [n 9] ReferencesNotes
Chagai 1 - 128 May 1998 10:16:15.8PKT
(+5 hrs)		Ras Koh, Pakistan 28°47′34″N64°56′44″E / 28.79273°N 64.94565°E / 28.79273; 64.94565 (Chagai 1 - 1) 1,298 m (4,259 ft) +tunnel,
32 kt [5] [6] [7] Boosted fission device. Notice debris from light rock band slumped downhill from shaking. No official word on what happened in the test. A. Q. Khan, well connected but considered unreliable, says 1 large and 4 small devices detonated.
Chagai 1 - 228 May 1998 10:16:15.8PKT
(+5 hrs)		Ras Koh, Pakistan 28°47′34″N64°56′44″E / 28.79273°N 64.94565°E / 28.79273; 64.94565 (Chagai 1 - 2) 1,298 m (4,259 ft) +tunnel,
1 kt [5] [6] [7] Boosted fission device. Notice debris from light rock band slumped downhill from shaking.
Chagai 1 - 328 May 1998 10:16:15.8PKT
(+5 hrs)		Ras Koh, Pakistan 28°47′34″N64°56′44″E / 28.79273°N 64.94565°E / 28.79273; 64.94565 (Chagai 1 - 3) 1,298 m (4,259 ft) +tunnel,
1 kt [5] [6] [7] Boosted fission device.
Chagai 1 - 428 May 1998 10:16:15.8PKT
(+5 hrs)		Ras Koh, Pakistan 28°47′34″N64°56′44″E / 28.79273°N 64.94565°E / 28.79273; 64.94565 (Chagai 1 - 4) 1,298 m (4,259 ft) +tunnel,
1 kt [5] [6] [7] Boosted fission device.
Chagai 1 - 528 May 1998 10:16:15.8PKT
(+5 hrs)		Ras Koh, Pakistan 28°47′34″N64°56′44″E / 28.79273°N 64.94565°E / 28.79273; 64.94565 (Chagai 1 - 5) 1,298 m (4,259 ft) +tunnel,
1 kt [5] [6] [7] Boosted fission device.
  1. ↑ The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  2. ↑ To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day.
  3. ↑ Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  4. ↑ Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  5. ↑ Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  6. ↑ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  7. ↑ Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  8. ↑ Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  9. ↑ Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

Chagai II

Chagai II
Indus.A2002274.0610.1km.jpg
Satellite image of Kharan Desert
Information
CountryPakistan
Test siteKharan Desert, Pakistan
Period1998
Number of tests1
Test type Underground shaft
Device type Fission
Max. yield15 kilotonnes of TNT (63 TJ)
Test series chronology
← Chagai I
Map this section's coordinates using: OpenStreetMap  
Download coordinates as: KML

The Pakistan's Chagai II nuclear test series was a single nuclear test conducted in 1998. These tests followed the Chagai-I series .

The Pakistan test series summary table is below.

The detonations in the Pakistan's Chagai-II series are listed below:

Pakistan's Chagai II series tests and detonations
Name [n 1] Date time (UT)Local time zone [n 2] [8] Location [n 3] Elevation + height [n 4] Delivery [n 5] Purpose [n 6] Device [n 7] Yield [n 8] Fallout [n 9] ReferencesNotes
Chagai 2 30 May 1998 06:54:57.1PKT
(+5 hrs)		Kharan Desert, Pakistan 28°21′30″N63°51′32″E / 28.35828°N 63.85882°E / 28.35828; 63.85882 (Chagai 2) 580 m (1,900 ft) - 36 m (118 ft)underground shaft15 kt [5] [6] [7] [9] Miniaturized boosted fission device.
  1. ↑ The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions - Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 - 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  2. ↑ To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it's 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
  3. ↑ Rough place name and a Latitude/Longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  4. ↑ Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  5. ↑ Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  6. ↑ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  7. ↑ Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  8. ↑ Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons.
  9. ↑ Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

Summary

Pakistan's nuclear testing series summary - Link to world summary of nuclear weapons tests
Series or yearsYears 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
Chagai I1998151 to 3236
Chagai II1998111515
Totals1998-May-28 to 1998-May-30261 to 3251Total country yield is 0.0094% of all nuclear testing.
  1. ↑ Includes all tests with potential for nuclear fission or fusion explosion, including combat use, singleton tests, salvo tests, zero yield fails, safety experiments, and bombs incapacitated by accidents but still intended to be fired. It does not include hydronuclear and subcritical tests, and misfires of a device which was subsequently fired successfully.
  2. ↑ Number of tests which would have been in violation of the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, such as atmospheric, space or underwater tests. Some "peaceful use" cratering tests which should have been violations were protested, and later quietly dropped.
  3. ↑ "Small" refers to a value greater than zero but less than 0.5 kt.
  4. ↑ Some yields are described like "< 20 kt"; such are scored at one half of the numeric amount, i.e., yield of 10k in this example. "Unknown yield" adds nothing to the total.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Pakistan's nuclear arsenals". Nuclear Age Peace Foundations. Nuclear files, Pakistan. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Interview with Author: Munir Ahmad Khan. "Interview with Author: Munir Ahmad Khan" . Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Nizamani, Haider K. (2000). The roots of rhetoric : politics of nuclear weapons in India and Pakistan (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. ISBN   0275968774.
  4. ↑ "Time Zone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Norris. "Indian and Pakistan: At the Crossroads" (PDF). Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sublette, Carey. "Nuclear Weapon Archives" . Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) (Technical report). SMDC Monitoring Research.
  8. ↑ Time Zone Historical Database, iana.com, retrieved 2014-03-08
  9. ↑ Albright, David (November 1998), "The Shots Heard 'round the World", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, pp. 20–25, retrieved 2013-03-16

Sources

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