| 1947.1.1 |
U.S.A. |
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created. In charge
of development of nuclear weapons, replacing Manhattan Engineering District
(MED). |
| 1947.10 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear weapon arsenal, Atomic bomb 56, B-29
for atomic bomb 35, 30 crews. 150 Atomic Bombs arsenal was proposed. |
| 1947 |
U.S.A. |
Statement by Henry Stimson that atomic bomb saved
one million human lives. |
| 1947 |
U.S.A. |
Confession by Julius Robert Oppenheimer: "In some
sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite
extinguish, the physicists have known sin, and this is a knowledge which
they cannot lose.": In the spring of 1946, Oppenheimer said to President
Truman, " Mr President, I have blood on my hands." |
| 1947 |
U.S.A. |
L. Szilard changes his profession from physics
to biology . |
| 1947 |
U.S.A. |
Calutron, the 184-inch cyclotron transferred to
California University. Later used in discovery of meson. |
| 1948.4.15 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear tests at Eniwetok atoll in Marshall
Islands.(Sandstone X-ray test series, a composite-core, levitated implosion
device, 37 kilotons yield)
1948.5.1(Yoke, a composite-core, levitated implosion device, 49Kt) 1948.5.15
(Zebra: a levitated all-U235 core, 18kt) A levitated composite core used
less than half as much plutonium as a solid core and ten times less U235
than a Little Boy. |
| 1948.6.7 |
U.S.S.R. |
Plutonium producing reactor completed, Chelyabinsk
40.（1948.6.22 100,00Kw，may producing 100 grams of plutonium everyday.) |
| 1948.6.24 |
Germany U.S.S.R. |
Berlin blockade. |
| 1948.6 |
U.S.S.R. |
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, 27 years old,
was recruited for thermonuclear weapon study. [Also, Semyon Belenky, Vitaly
Ginzburg, Yuri Romanov] |
| 1948.6 |
Soviet Union |
A Reactor for plutonium production completed.
Constructed using forced labor of prisoners in detention camp. |
| 1948.8 |
|
World Conference of Intellectuals against Application to
Military Use of Science met in Poland. Issued warning about the risk of nuclear
war. |
| 1948.12 |
Soviet Union |
Start of operation of nuclear fuel reprocessing
plan after accidental irradiation due to small scale explosion of plutonium. |
| 1948 |
Soviet Union |
A new idea of hydrogen bomb (h-bomb) proposed
by Andrei Sakharov. |
| 1949.5 |
Soviet Union |
10 kg Plutonium stock available. |
| 1949.8.29 |
Soviet Union |
Atomic bomb explosion experiment successful,
an implosive type Plutonium bomb. At Semipalatinsk. Called " Joe No. 1" in
U.S.A.("Joe" was nickname for Y. Stalin.) |
| 1949.9.3 |
U.S.A. |
Radioactivity detected over Kamchatka by a reconnaissance
plane (WB-29). |
| 1949. 9.22 |
U.S.A. |
FBI commenced research of espionage activity
of Klaus Fuchs. |
| 1949.9.23 |
U.S.A. |
Statement by President Truman of atomic bomb test
by Soviet Union |
| 1949.9 |
U.S.A. |
Edward Teller returns to Los Alamos. |
| 1949.10.30 |
U.S.A. |
Recommendation by J.R. Oppenheimer and J. Manley
against development of H-bomb. E.Fermi and I. Rabi considered H-bomb may
promote disarmament. |
| 1949.10 |
U.S.A. |
Increase in uranium and plutonium production approved
by Dean Acheson, Minister of defense. |
| 1949.10. 1 |
China |
People's Republic of China |
| 1949.11.29 |
U.S.A. |
Lewis L. Strauss recommends H-bomb development
to President Truman. |
| 1949 |
U.S.A. |
200 A-bombs stockpile. |
| 1950.1.24 |
United Kingdom |
Klaus Fuchs, confession of leakage
of nuclear confidential information. (William Skardon, an M15 officer specialized
in handling traitors) |
| 1950.1.31 |
U.S.A. |
Statement by President Truman of H-bomb development. |
| 1950. 2.14 |
China U.S.S.R. |
Mutual Security Pact, mutual defense
with every capability including atomic bomb. |
| 1950.2 |
U.S.A. |
McCarthyism begins, a 4-year track of accusations
and suspicion. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Harry Gold, and David Greenglass
arrested as spies (summer 1950). |
| 1950.2 |
England |
Klaus Fuchs arrested as a spy. Sentenced to 14
years prison. Released in 1959 and became a vice director of atomic energy
institute in East Germany. |
| 1950.6.25 |
|
Outbreak of Korean war. |
| 1950. 8. 1 |
U.S.A. |
10 bombers of Strategic Air Command sent to
Guam.
（1950.9.30 Air force returned leaving atomic bombs) |
| 1950. 8. 5 |
U.S.A. |
B-29 bomber carrying atomic bomb crash at Fairfield
base, California. |
| 1950.10.19 |
China |
Entered the Korean war on North Korean side. |
| 1950.10.26 |
U.S.A. |
Edward Teller's Family Committee concluded
design development of and froze the designs for the Booster and the Cylinder
of thermonuclear weapon, the "Greenhouse" Item and "George" shots.
（Booster; fission bomb using DT-gas core to increase its yield. Cylinder;
DT and tritium outside an exploding fission bomb to heat by X-ray.) |
| 1950.12 |
U.S.A. |
[U.S.A.] Hydrodynamic lensing design by Stanislaw Ulam. |
| 1950 |
|
Atomic Bomb arsenal; USA 298, USSR 5. |
| 1950 |
U.S.A. |
Megaton atomic bomb test: Eniwetok atoll. |
| 1950 |
U.S.A. |
Start of development of Redstone rocket, a ground-to-ground
ballistic missile for nuclear warhead. |
| 1951.2 |
U.S.A. |
Teller-Ulam configuration for H-bomb: Radiation
implosion by E.Teller and Stanislaw Ulam. |
| 1951.4.5 |
U.S.A. |
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg given decision of
death.
1953.6.18 execution. 1951.4.6 David Greenglass ,15 years; 1950.12 Harry
Gold 30 years. |
| 1951.4.5 |
U.S.A. |
Joint Chiefs ordered atomic retaliation against
two hundreds Soviet bombers on the air bases in Manchuria in the event of
"a major attack" on UN (mainly USA and South Korea) forces. General Douglas
MacArthur was fired because of hesitating to follow the nuclear attack strategy.
Mark IV nuclear capsules were transferred and in USAF custody. |
| 1951.5.9 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear test for thermonuclear bomb in Eniwetok
atoll. Grennhouse #3 test. Cylinder (DT and tritium), 225 kt; Booster (Uranium
core, DT + tritium gas) , 45.5 kt. |
| 1951.9.24 |
U.S.A. |
Edward Teller left Los Alamos.
（1951.9.17 Marshall Holloway as head of thermonuclear project.) |
| 1951.9.24 |
U.S.S.R. |
Atomic bomb tests in Semipalatinsk
（Improved implosion device with an all-U235, probably levitated core,
Joe #2, half diameter but twice as much yield as Joe#1, 40 kt. 1. 1951.10.18
Joe #3, an implosion device with a composite core, air-dropped. These two
tests led to the design of the first Soviet production of atomic bomb. |
| 1951.10.5 |
U.S.A. |
Panda Committee (Theoretical Megaton Group),
decision to employ Liquid deuterium for thermonuclear fuel not deuterium
ammonia or lithium deuteride. |
| 1951.10 |
U.S.A. |
AEC appropriations did increase for FY 1951 and
FY 1952. By late 1951, 2 percent of entire American construction force was
employed in AEC jobs .Construction and equipment accounted for 3/4 of $2
billion AEC budget. Department of Defense (DOD) and AEC jointly call for
further atomic plant expansions (January 1952). |
| 1952.6 |
U.S.A. |
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories established in
Livermore, California, for production of H-bomb. |
| 1952.8.6 |
Japan |
Memorial tower for victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
unveiling. |
| 1952.10.3 |
England |
A-bomb test at Monte Bello Islands, West Australia. |
| 1952.11.1 |
U.S.A. |
The first H-bomb explosion: 10.4 MT, 700
times power of Little Boy, gross weight 65 tons. Elugelap island in Eniwetok
disappeared. E. Teller knew the test successful by a seismograph. Two new
elements, einsteinium(99) and fermium(100) were discovered in the fallout. |
| 1953.2 |
U.S.A. |
Decision by Air Force to develop ICBM: Atlas rocket
with 3000lb warhead. |
| 1953.6.26 |
U.S.S.R. |
Lavrenti Beria arrested（1953.12 executed).
Vyacheslav Malysshev, head of atomic bomb project. |
| 1953.7 |
|
Korean war ceased. |
| 1953.7 |
U.S.A. |
" Two scorpions in a bottle" analogy by J.Oppenheimer
in an essay in the magazine Foreign Affairs. |
| 1953.8.8 |
Soviet Union |
A prototype H-bomb test using a sandwich
of lithium deuteride and uranium. Yield: 400KT. H.Bethe judged it is not
a real H-bomb by analyzing radioactive fallout. |
| 1953.11 |
Soviet Union |
ICBM development decided. |
| 1954.1.21 |
U.S.A. |
Launch of atomic submarine, Nautilus, using a
pressurized water reactor. |
| 1954.3.1 |
U.S.A. |
Dry, deliverable H-bomb test, code named Bravo,
created by members of Livermore Laboratories, on the island of Bikini near
the Marshall islands. Yield 15MT The explosion created a 240 ft. deep and
6,000 ft. wide crater. The bomb was created to produce as much fallout as
possible. A Japanese fishing boat was located about 100 miles from the island.
Two weeks later all 23 crew members were suffering radiation sickness. One
of them, Aikichi Kuboyama, died of liver and blood damage (hepatitis) on
Sept.23, 1954. People in Rongelap and Utirik still have not been compensated
adequately. They and others have asked the question: Did the U.S. government
use the native people as guinea pigs, causing the malignancies (thyroid cancer
and leukemia) and reproductive problems. |
| 1954.4.12 |
U.S.A. |
J. Oppenheimer loses security clearance for opposing
development of h-bomb. |
| 1955.8.6 |
Japan |
The First World Conference Against A-H Bomb in Hiroshima. |
| 1955 |
Soviet Union |
Proposal to prohibit nuclear testing at the
4 foreign ministers conference in Geneva. |
| 1955.11.22 |
Soviet Union |
H-bomb test success: Dropped by a plane.
Yield 1.6MT from a radiation-implosion type. |
| 1955 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear arsenal, 2,422. |
| 1956 |
England |
U. S. air force bomber crashes on a nuclear weapon
arsenal in Suffolk. 3 Fat Man type bombs were burned. |
| 1957.5.15 |
England |
H-bomb test successful at Christmas Island. |
| 1957.6.24 |
U.S.A. |
Clean H-bomb proposed by E. Teller and L. Strauss.
A primordial tactical nuclear weapon. |
| 1957.9 |
U.S.A. |
Underground nuclear test in Nevada. An idea by E.
Teller suggested by artificial earthquake experiment. |
| 1957.10.4 |
Soviet Union |
Sputnik 1 launched. |
| 1957.10.7 |
England |
Windscale (now called Sellafield) accident in
Cumbria England. Temperature continued to rise (in excess of 1000 degrees
C)in a crude nuclear reactor for producing weapons-grade plutonium. On the
10th it caught fire. Eventually pile was flooded, steam was released, public
was told cloud was out to sea, but temperature inversion caused cloud to
cover a good part of Britain. Possibly one of closest events to a 'china
syndrome' ever. All facts may still not be disclosed. |
| 1957.11.3 |
Soviet Union |
Sputnik 2 launched with a Raika dog aboard. |
| 1957.12.5 |
Soviet Union |
Atomic energy icebreaker ship, Lenin, launched.
4 accidents of reactor in the nineteen sixties reported in 1989 document. |
| 1957 |
Soviet Union |
"Kyshtym" disaster in the Urals. Explosion
of nuclear waste in nuclear weapon production plant. |
| 1957 |
|
Sign-in by scientists against nuclear tests. The "Clean
H-bomb" was denounced as false by Linus Pauling and 9235 scientists in the
world. (Received 1962 Novel Peace Prize.) |
| 1958.1.31 |
U.S.A. |
Explorer No.1 launched by Jupiter C rocket (IRBM).
A 14kg satellite. Rocket fueled by liquid oxygen + kerosene. |
| 1958.3 |
Soviet Union |
Unilateral interruption of nuclear testing. |
| 1958.4 |
U.S.A. |
Scientific panel committee for prohibition of nuclear
tests. " Atoms For Peace" program initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
(December 1953). Policy of " massive retaliation" is " New Look" in armaments:
decision to cut defense budget by decreasing conventional forces and weapons,
and expanding atomic weaponry. Secret threat to use atomic weapons to end
Korean War stalemate (Spring 1953).
Verification of underground nuclear tests is possible except for those in
a cave. |
| 1958.5 |
U.S.A. |
" Clean H-bomb" test at Eniwetok atoll. Miniaturization
of igniting A-bomb. |
| 1958.8 |
U.S.A. |
Suspension of nuclear tests. |
| 1958.12 |
U.S.A. |
Atlas rocket developed using stainless steel tank
for liquid oxygen + kerosene. |
| 1958 |
U.S.A. |
Polaris rocket developed as Submarine-Launched Ballistic
Missile (SLBM) using polyurethane solid fuel. |
| 1959 |
U.S.A. |
ICBM deployed, the Atlas rocket. |
| 1959 |
U.S.A. |
Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems: ABM; Zeus, Spartan,
Sprint, and Safeguard ABMs developed (1960s and 1970s); Nike with 5MT class
nuclear warhead to explode just upon own head. |
| 1959 |
U.S.S.R. |
Nuclear arsenal. 1,050. |
| 1960.2 |
U.S.A. |
Limited Test Ban Treaty proposed by D.Eisenhauer.
Agreed 1963. Trilateral agreement negotiated by the U.S., U.S.S.R., and U.K.
prohibiting tests of nuclear devices in the atmosphere, in outer space, and
underwater. Allows nuclear testing to continue underground, so long as radioactive
debris is not allowed " outside the territorial limits" of the testing state. |
| 1960.2 |
France |
[France] Atomic bomb test in Sahara desert, a plutonium
implosion bomb. |
| 1961.4.12 |
Soviet Union |
Bostok 1 launched carying Urey Gagarin. He
said "The earth was blue but there was no God". One revolution around the
earth in 108 min. |
| 1961.7.4 |
Soviet Union |
An atomic power submarine launched. Suffered
a reactor core melting accident in the first cruise. |
| 1961.8 |
Soviet Union |
Resumes surprise nuclear tests with a 60MT
H-bomb. Conducts 50 aerospace tests within 60 days. |
| 1961.9.15 |
U.S.A. |
Resumes nuclear tests. Conducts 20 underground nuclear
tests within a half year, yields of 20KT or below. |
| 1961 |
U.S.A. |
Inquiry by President John F.Kennedy on nuclear test
to Atomic Energy Commission. [Stockpiles are now: U.S. 23,200; Soviet Union
2450. Glenn T.Seaborg, AEC chairman, proposed total ban of nuclear tests,
but Kennedy suggested small scale tests fewer than Soviet Union. |
| 1961 |
U.S.A. |
Air crash of A-bomber loading nuclear bomb in North
Carolina. The 24MT bomb just prior to dropping. Avoided explosion by the
final safety device out of six. |
| 1961 |
U.S.A. |
Titan rocket developed, a rapid fire model ICBM. |
| 1961 |
U.S.A. & U.S.S.R. |
Nuclear arsenal; USA:18,638，Soviet:3100. |
| 1962.5.6 |
U.S.A. |
SLBM with nuclear warhead launching test at Christmas
island from a Polaris A-2 submarine. |
| 1962 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear explosion test using plutonium of reactor.
A low yield explosion due to plutonium-240. |
| 1962.7.8 |
U.S.A. |
High altitude nuclear test, 400 km high Johnston
island of a 1.4MT H-bomb. A large power loss in Oahu island, Hawaii, due
to malfunction of electric supply control device caused by electromagnetic
pulse wave emitted during bombardment of ionosphere by X-ray and gamma-ray
of nuclear explosion. The fact that nuclear explosion destroyed own communication
system. |
| 1962.10.22 |
U.S.A. & U.S.S.R. |
Cuban missile crisis.
（1962.10.14 A U-2 overflight found MRBM sites in Cuba. 54 SAC bombers
carrying thermonuclear weapons joined twelve-plane around-the-clock airborne
alert. 136 Atlas and Titan ICBMs for firing prepared. General LeMay pushed
President Kennedy to up the ante, bomb Cuba and take out the missile sites.
20 R-12 missiles with nuclear head, 9 nuclear strategic missiles in Cuba. |
| 1962.10.26 |
U.S.A. |
ICBM Atlas launched from Vandenberg base to
the Pacific. A provocation. |
| 1963.8.5 |
|
Limited Test Ban Treaty agreed. The treaty has since been
signed by a total of 116 countries, including potential nuclear states Argentina,
Brazil, India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Africa. Though two major nuclear
powers, France and the People's Republic of China, have not signed. In 1992,
China exploded A-bomb beyond the LTBT limits. |
| 1963.12.2 |
U.S.A. |
R. Oppenheimer is honored with Enrico Fermi prize
by J.F. Kennedy and new president Johnson. |
| 1964.10 |
China |
Atomic bomb test: a uranium bomb in Lop Nor. The
first guided missile on Oct. 27, 1966, and the first thermonuclear (fusion)
device on Dec. 28, 1966. |
| 1964 |
Soviet Union |
Demonstration of ABM in a military parade,
Megaton class warhead. |
| 1965.2.7 |
Vietnam |
Bombing by U.S. Air Force of north Vietnam. |
| 1965.3.23 |
U.S.A. |
Gemini No.3 launched on a Titan VA rocket. |
| 1965.12.5 |
U.S.A. |
H-bomb-loaded plane sunk 300 km east of Okinoerabu
island. |
| 1966 |
Spain |
Nuclear bomb-loaded air plane crash. On the 2.5MT
weapon, 2 gunpowder ignition out of 4 exploded. |
| 1968 |
U.S.A. |
Nuclear bomb-loaded plane crash at Thule, Greeenland. |
| 1968 |
|
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968): Multilateral agreement
signed and ratified by the US, USSR, UK, and 133 non-nuclear-weapon states
to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to assure that the peaceful
nuclear programs of non-nuclear-weapon states are not diverted to weapons
production. In May 1995, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was made permanent. |
| 1969.6.12 |
Japan |
A nuclear-powered vessel "Mutsu" launching. |
| 1969.7.20 |
U.S.A. |
Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Launched by Saturn
V rocket. |
| 1971 |
U.S.A. |
Spy satellite "Big Bird" launched by a Titan IIID
rocket. |
| 1972.5 |
U.S.A. |
Laser navigation bomb used in Vietnam. |
| 1972.5 |
|
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty I, Interim Agreement: Bilateral
agreement between the US and USSR of five-year duration which froze the number
of strategic ballistic missiles at 1972 levels. Construction of additional
land-based ICBM silos were prohibited, while SLBM launcher levels can be
increased if corresponding reductions are made in older ICBM or SLBM launchers.
Modernization of launchers is allowed, however, if kept within specific dimensions. |
| 1972 |
U.S.A. |
Usual warhead torpedo deployed, replacing nuclear
torpedoes which were deployed since 1958, because underwater nuclear explosion
interferes with sonar data. |
| 1973 |
U.S.A. |
Miniature nuclear warhead developed, yield of 50
tons TNT. Conventional tactical nuclear weapons. |
| 1974.5.18 |
India |
Atomic bomb test of a plutonium implosion bomb.
At Rajasthan. |
| 1977.6 |
U.S.A. |
Design by a student [John Phillip] of plutonium
bomb. Approached by Pakistan spy. |
| 1977.7.12 |
U.S.A. |
Neutron Bomb development decided by President Jimmy
Carter's "Countervailing Strategy". Enhanced deterrence by making victory
in any nuclear conflict unattainable or meaningless. The neutron bomb differs
from standard nuclearweapons insofar as its primary lethal effects come from
the radiation damage caused by the neutrons it emits. It is also known as
an enhanced-radiation weapon (ERW). |
| 1979.3.28 |
U.S.A. |
Accident at Three Miles Nuclear Reactor: The worst
core melting up to that time. |
| 1979.6 |
|
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II Treaty: Bilateral, unratified
agreement between the US and USSR setting equal aggregate ceilings and subceilings
on strategic offensive weapon systems and imposing qualitative restraints
on existing and future strategic systems. Specifically, the SALT II equal
ceilings include: 2,400 aggregate limit on strategic nuclear delivery vehicles
(ICBMs, SLBMs, and bombers) 1,320 subceiling on MIRVed ballistic missiles.(SALT
II) No ratification because of invasion to Afghanistan by Soviet Union. |
| 1979.9.22 |
Soviet Union |
Flash of nuclear explosion detected offshore
to South Africa. Notified to Washington. Suspected nuclear test. |
| 1979 |
U.S.A. |
Digital spy satellite launched using CCD camera
without film to be collected. |