The RDS-1, also known as First Lightning, was the first nuclear weapons test that was conducted by the Soviet Union. It was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m. Kazakhstan Time, at the Semipalatin
The mushroom cloud from RDS-1, the first Soviet nuclear test
The first Soviet atomic bomb, "RDS-1", was an implosion-type, like the U.S. "Fat Man" bomb, even in appearance; the front "eyes" are radar fuses.
This chart from September 1949 shows the United States Weather Bureau's prediction for where the Soviet Union first tested its atomic bomb in 1949. Each colored zone indicates the probability that the bomb was detonated within that area.
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb is a second-generation nuclear weapon, using nuclear fusion. The most destructive weapons ever created, their yields typically exceed first-gener
RDS-1
…before and after the test about its nuclear capability. In response, the United States government ordered a crash program to develop the "Super" i.e. hydrogen bomb, accelerating the nuclear arms race. There are several explanations for the Soviet code-name of RDS-1, usually an arbitrary designation: a backronym…
Operation Castle thermonuclear test, Castle Romeo shot
Casing of the Soviet Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever built and tested, Sarov, Russia.
Operation Grapple on Christmas Island was the first British hydrogen bomb test.