U.S. Nuclear Weapons Tests Trivia Quiz

Answer: A fission device rips apart atoms while a fusion device smashes them together.

Fission involves smashing atoms into one another, causing them to rip apart. Fusion involves forcing atoms together. Both methods release a tremendous amount of energy, but fusion is more powerful, especially when "boosted" by fission. The most powerful nuclear weapons are fission-fusion devices.

Answer: Hiroshima, Trinity, Nagasaki, Ivy King

Hiroshima was 12-15 kilotons, the equivalent of between 12,000 and 15,000 tons of TNT, Trinity was 20 kilotons, Nagasaki was 21 kilotons and Ivy King was a whopping 500 kilotons, the largest pure fission device ever exploded.

Answer: The test blast was the only one delivered by the "atomic cannon."

Upshot-Knothole Grable was the first and only nuclear device fired as an artillery shell. The May 25, 1953, shot was a 15 kiloton explosion fired from a 280mm (11 inch) "atomic cannon," and it produced some of the heaviest fallout of the Nevada test blasts. The test was named "Grable" after "gun," not the actress.

Answer: B-52 Stratofortress

The B-52, which entered service in the 1950s (and remains service), has seen combat in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Both the B-52 and the B-36 dropped nuclear test bombs in the South Pacific. The B-36, B-47 and B-58 were never used in actual combat.

Answer: The fallout actually reached western Hawaii.

The fallout never reached Hawaii, but it was quite bad. Castle Bravo was designed to be a 5 megaton explosion, but a runaway lithium-7 reaction more than doubled the yield to 15 megatons. A Japanese fishing boat more than 100 miles from Eniwetok that was missed in the pre-blast sweep received lethal doses of radiation, while the islanders, who had been considered to be at a safe distance, were showered with fallout. One of the observation crews 20 miles from ground zero was trapped it its bunker for several hours because the area was unexpectedly too radioactively hot for them to leave.

The Castle Bravo blast was more powerful than the May 1980 eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano, which is estimated at 10 megatons. More than any other test shot, Castle Bravo brought the danger of nuclear fallout into the public eye.

Answer: Marshall Islands

The U.S. conducted most Pacific test at the Marshall Islands, which include Bikini Atoll, site of the fourth and fifth nuclear explosions (Trinity, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 1, 2 and 3), and Eniwetok Atoll. The other three choices were never used for nuclear tests.

Answer: Sunbeam Little Feller 1, July 17, 1962, Nevada Test Site

Sunbeam Little Feller 1 was a >1 kiloton weapons effects test. B was the last test at the long-used Eniwetok Atoll. C was the last underground test conducted by America. D was the first of Operation Nougat, the first all-underground series of tests.

Answer: Ivy

Ivy Mike, detonated Nov. 1, 1952, was the first true thermonuclear blast ever, measuring a whopping 10 megatons. The gigantic, near-white mushroom cloud has since become a familiar icon representing all nuclear weapons tests.

Answer: One

Dominic Frigate Bird was the only test explosion delivered by a ballistic missile. Thee USS Ethan Allen delivered the 600 kiloton air burst above Johnston Island during Operation Dominic in May 1962.

Answer: Plumbbob Hood

Plumbbob Hood was a 74 kiloton beast, believed to be the only thermonuclear device detonated inside the U.S. Upshot-Knothole Climax was 61 kilotons, Teapot Turk was 43 kilotons and Ranger Fox was 22 kilotons.