The Nuclear Weapon Archive

A Guide to Nuclear Weapons

The Past is Prologue

History - Postwar Weapons Development
The links below take you to pages describing the nuclear weapons tests series conducted since World War II. The ever popular nuclear test images are accessed through these links.
United States Last changed 1 May 1998	Soviet Union/Russia Last changed 12 December 1997	United Kingdom Last changed 1 May 2001	France Last changed 1 May 2001
China Last changed 1 May 2001	India Last changed 1 May 2001	Pakistan Last changed 6 August 2001	North Korea Last changed 25 October 2006

The Present

Arsenals of the Declared Nuclear States
United States Last changed 15 October 2006	Russia	United Kingdom Last changed 1 May 2001	France Last changed 1 May 2001
China Last changed 1 May 2001	India Last changed 30 March 2001	Pakistan Last changed 6 August 2001	North Korea Last changed 25 October 2006

Nuclear States in the Shadows
South Africa Last changed 7 September 2001	Israel Last changed 10 December 1997	Iraq Last changed 15 October 2001

Reference Library

Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions (NWFAQ) by Carey Sublette
Last modified: 9 August 2001	Inactive links are for section that have not been completed or released
0.0 Introduction 1.0 Types of Nuclear Weapons 2.0 Introduction to Nuclear Weapon Physics and Design 3.0 Matter, Energy, and Radiation Hydrodynamics 4.0 Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons 5.0 Effects of Nuclear Explosions 6.0 Nuclear Materials 7.0 Nuclear Weapon Nations and Arsenals 8.0 The First Nuclear Weapons 9.0 Hiroshima and Nagasaki 10.0 Chronology For The Origin Of Atomic Weapons 11.0 Questions and Answers 12.0 Useful Tables 13.0 Bibliography 14.0 Nuclear Weapons FAQ Change History
Download the whole thing in a zip file

Major Reference Articles and Links

Repository of Nuclear Effects Computer Simulations and Models Illustrated Effects of Nuclear Weapons Plutonium Manufacture and Fabrication (illustrated) The Smyth Report: Atomic Energy for Military Purposes; the first public description of atomic technology, released in 1945 and still an excellent introduction Nuclear Tests Comprehensive List of All Nuclear Explosions by Jim Lawson [8/1996] Official List of Underground Nuclear Explosions in Nevada [1995] Bibliographic Material Some References [1995] The Big List of Nuclear Weapons Publications [1995] Links to Important Information Sites. Regrettably a vast amount of reference material once available on-line has been removed in the wake of 9-11, and large amounts of material continue to disappear. For example, all informational sites at Los Alamos have vanished as of this writing (20 May 2002). I removed some links that are no longer active, but many others may be no longer available. DOE Information Bridge, Excellent link for accessing millions of pages of on-line information Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Documents On-Line (currently inactive) Government Accounting Office Report Page. A valuable resource. Go to GAO Access Search Page, use keyword search (like "nuclear"). Many FY 95 and later reports are available online Complete Archive Site for the late lamented U.S. Office of Technolgy Assessment (OTA). Hosted by Princeton Univ. Federation of American Scientists: Nuclear resourcesLots of stuff here, browse around. Stephen Schwartz's list of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Facilities Brookings Institute Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Home Page Gregory Walker's Trinity Site The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, this site now hosts the text of many valuable articles, with on-line search capability. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Nuclear Information (new upgrades in progress) The Internet and the Bomb: A Research Guide to Policy and Information about Nuclear Weapons, at the NRDC, the best collection of nuclear-related links in existence. Nuclear Data Table Index For up-to-date data on nuclear forces for all powers (and more), this is the place to go! NRDC table of global nuclear stockpiles from the dawn of the Atomic Age to the present 1996 Strategic Nuclear Forces for the U.S. and Russia Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). Excellent repository of on-line materials British American Security Information Council (BASIC). An independent research organization that analyzes government policies - a very good site, check out its on-line reports on nuclear issues, e.g. "The Bug in the Bomb" a study of bombs and the Y2K problem. Center for Defense Information (CDI). An independent military policy research and analysis organization, has many on-line resources. NBC-Med.Org: Medical NBC (Nuclear-Biological-Chemical) On-line Most nuclear related medical data has disappeared but it still has Medical Management of Radiological Casualties Still a good resource on biological and chemical weapons. For FM 8-9: Nato Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations now see: the FAS site. Plutonium: The First Fifty Years from the US DOE Drawing Back the Curtain of Secrecy: Restricted Data Declassification Decisions, 1946 to the Present (January 1, 2000). Version RDD-6. Lots of interesting bits of information about nuclear weapons. T-2 Nuclear Information Service. Located at Los Alamos, this is the site to go to first for nuclear physics data. Nuclear Data Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). This is an excellent source of nuclear physics data also. Greenpeace Report on dual capable technology (check out Figs 4, 5, 6 and 7) Sandia Lab News U.S. Dept. of Energy (Nevada) Historical Information Home Page, regretably the DOE Nevada site has removed its HTML-format "On-Line Catalog of All U.S. Nuclear Tests", but the same information is available in an Acrobat (.pdf) format document accessible from this page. The "CIA Electronic Document Release Center" hosts downloadable declassified documents. Do a full text search on "nuclear" or "atomic" to see listings of useful documents. Other Sites With Nuclear Test Photos U.S. Dept. of Energy (Nevada) Test Photo Page Weapons and Related Technologies Pulse Power Switching Technology [10/96] Where to Buy Nuclear Weapons Related Materials Otowi Station - bookstore at Los Alamos National Atomic Museum Store

Other Archive Materials

• Richard K. Brown's Warhead Diagrams

• Historical Links and Articles

• Eyewitness accounts of Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors

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