Topic summary
Atomic test
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Nuclear weapons testing.
History
The United States conducted six atomic tests before the Soviet Union developed its first atomic bomb (RDS-1) and tested it on August 29, 1949. Neither country had many atomic weapons to spare at first, and testing was relatively infrequent. (When the US used two weapons for Operation Crossroads in 1946, they were detonating over 20% of their current arsenal.) By the 1950s the United States had established a dedicated test site on its own territory (Nevada Test Site) and was also using a site in the Marshall Islands (Pacific Proving Grounds) for extensive atomic and nuclear testing.