Historical Timeline of Major Nuclear Events Event Date: Event Title: Event Description: 08/13/1942 Manhattan Project Begins Manhattan Project officially begins. This secret US project that leads to the development of the first atomic bomb. 07/16/1945 "Atomic Age" Begins 08/06/1945 Hiroshima Bombing The Atomic Age begins. The first-ever nuclear weapons test, codenamed the Trinity, is carried out by the United States at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. This implosion-design device is called The Gadget. First atomic bomb to be used as a weapon, known as Little Boy (a uranium based device), is dropped over Hiroshima during World War II. 08/09/1945 Nagasaki Bombing Three days after the first nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Fat Man, an implosion-device similar to The Gadget weapon tested in New Mexico, is dropped over Nagasaki. 08/29/1949 10/02/1952 First Soviet UK First Nuclear Soviet Union conducts its first nuclear weapon test known as RDS-1 at the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan. United Kingdom conducts its first nuclear weapon test known as Operation Hurricane. 11/01/1952 "Mike" 03/01/1954 Castle Bravo test 07/29/1957 IAEA Established 02/13/1960 10/30/1961 10/10/1963 France First The 'Tsar Bomba" ed Partial Ban Treaty inf orce First hydrogen bomb test, codenamed Mike, carried out by the United States at the Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands. The first hydronuclear weapon test, codenamed Castle Bravo, is carried out by the United States. The yield was 15 megatons, making it the most powerful weapon ever tested by the United States. The International Atomic Energy Agency is established to promote peaceful uses of the atom and verify non-diversion of material to weapons purposes. France conducts its first nuclear weapon test, called "Gerboise bleue," in Algeria. USSR conducts the most powerful nuclear weapon test ever. The yield of the "Tsar Bomba" was 50 megatons; 1,400 times more powerful than the two bombs used in World War II over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Partial Nuclear Ban Treaty (also known as the Limited Ban Treaty) enters into. It prohibits nuclear testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water.
10/16/1964 China s First China conducts its first nuclear weapon test codenamed 596 at the Lop Nur test site. 07/01/1968 NPT Opens for Signature The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of s, also known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), opens for signature. 04/25/1969 Tlatelolco in The Tlatelolco, the first nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ), covering Latin America and the Caribbean, provisionally enters into. 03/05/1970 NPT Enters Into Force 05/26/1972 SALT I Negotiations 10/03/1972 ABM Treaty in 05/18/1974 India's PNE Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), enters into. It becomes known as the "cornerstone" of international security. The United States and Soviet Union hold Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) from November 17, 1969 to May 26, 1972, aimed at limiting missile systems and other strategic armaments. The ABM Treaty was also negotiated as a result of these meetings. The Treaty between the United States and Soviet Union on the Limitation of Anti-Missile Ballistic Systems (ABM Treaty) enters into. The Treaty obligated the parties to limit their deployed ABM systems to no more than two sites, with 100 ABM launchers and 100 interceptor missiles each. India conducts a "peaceful nuclear explosion" codenamed the Smiling Buddha. 07/03/1974 05/05/1975 11/01/1975 Threshold Ban Treaty First NPT Review Conference starts NSG meets for the first time The Treaty on the Limitation of Underground s, also known as the Threshold Ban Treaty, is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. This treaty prohibited underground nuclear tests above the yield of 150 kilotons. The First NPT Review Conference takes place. The number of states parties is 91. The conference decides to hold review conferences every five years thereafter to review the implementation of the NPT. The Final Document reaffirms commitment to treaty objectives and urges nuclear weapon states to comply with disarmament obligations. In November 1975, the Nuclear Suppliers Group meets for the first time in London. Created in response to India's nuclear test, the group is focused on improving export controls to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons and related technology 06/18/1979 08/11/1980 08/27/1985 SALT II Negotiations Second NPT RevCon starts Third NPT Review Conference starts U.S. and USSR sign the SALT II Treaty but never ratify the agreement due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later that year. The second NPT Review Conference convenes. The number of states parties is 112. The Review Conference fails to reach consensus on a Final Document. Many non-nuclear weapon states calls on the United States and USSR to ratify the SALT II Treaty, but the United States had withdrawn from the negotiations due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 27 August - 21 September, the third NPT Review Conference is held in Geneva. Parties to the treaty now number 131. Although a majority of the parties praises the NPT as a success, some argue that horizontal proliferation, particularly in Israel and South Africa, is threatening the treaty's objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The conference adopts the Final
Document urging expansion of nuclear-weapon-free-zones and progress on nuclear disarmament. 04/26/1986 The Chernobyl disaster 10/11/1986 Reykjavik Summit 12/11/1986 06/01/1988 Rarotonga in INF Treaty in 11/09/1989 Berlin Wall falls An accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, the worst such accident in history, results in the releae of large amounts of radiation that spreads over Belarus,Ukraine, and other European countries, in USSR and abroad. At a summit meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev discuss limiting U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals. The meeting fails to produce a concrete agreement as the Soviet Union demands that the United States first cancel plans for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which the United States refused to do. The Rarotonga, a NWFZ covering the South Pacific, enters into. The Treaty between the United States of America and the Soviet Union on the Elimination of their Intermediate-range and Shorter-range Missiles (INF Treaty) enters into. In November 1989, Berlin Wall falls, marking the end of the Cold War and, with it, the end of the superpowers nuclear arms race. 07/19/1991 07/31/1991 South Africa joins NPT START Treaty 19 July 1991 South Africa joins the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state, after dismantling its secret nuclear weapons program. South Africa is the only country that had manufactured nuclear weapons and voluntarily dismantled them. The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Soviet Union (later Russian Federation) on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I) is signed. The treaty established an extensive bilateral verification regime and was expected to cut strategic nuclear arsenals by about 35%. 08/29/1991 Semipalatinsk Site Closed Semipalatinsk Site closes. Kazakhstan s President Nazarbayev orders the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, exactly 42 years after the first Soviet test there. 03/09/1992 China joins NPT After two decades outside the regime, China accedes to the NPT as a nuclearweapon state. 08/03/1992 France joins NPT France accedes to the NPT, the last "official" nuclear-weapon state to do so. 12/05/1994 START I in 04/17/1995 05/11/1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference Starts NPT Extended Indefinitely START I enters into, upon the exchange of instruments of ratification among the United States, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The latter three give up nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union. States parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty convene in New York for the Treaty s Review and Extension conference. The NPT is extended indefinitely. The package of decisions includes, along with treaty extension, strengthening the review process, Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation, and a Resolution on the Middle East.
09/24/1996 The CTBT Opens for Signature The Comprehensive Nuclear Ban Treaty opens for signature. The Treaty has yet to enter into. 03/28/1997 Bangkok in The Bangkok, a NWFZ covering Southeast Asia, enters into. The IAEA Board of Governors accepts the Model Additional Protocol, a 05/15/1997 Additional protocol that could be added to existing comprehensive safeguards Protocol approved agreements, providing the IAEA with strengthened safeguards verification authority. 05/11/1998 05/28/1998 India's Nuclear Weapons s Pakistan's First NW 11-13 May, India carries out a series of nuclear weapon tests known as Pokharan II. 28-30 May, Pakistan carries out a series of nuclear weapon tests known as Chagai I and II. 02/28/2000 05/19/2000 Mongolian NWFZ Recognized 2000 NPT RevCon concludes The United Nations officially recognizes Mongolia's nuclear-weapon-free status. 24 April - 19 May, NPT member states convene for the Treaty s sixth Review Conference. States Parties adopt by consensus a Final Document that includes 13 practical steps for the systematic and progressive efforts to implement Article VI of the Treaty, which specifically deals with nuclear disarmament. 12/13/2001 U.S. leaving ABM Treaty U.S. President George W. Bush notifies the Russian Federation that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the ABM Treaty. The withdrawal clause in the treaty required a 6 month notification prior to leaving. 06/13/2002 10/23/2002 06/01/2003 04/28/2004 ABM and START II Treaties defunct Tlatelolco in full SORT Treaty in UNSCR 1540 adopted US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty takes effect. Russia declares START II defunct on the same day. The Tlatelolco, the Latin American NWFZ, enters into full after Cuba becomes the last state to ratify it. The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), also known as the Moscow Moscow, enters into. UN Security Council unanimously adopts UNSC Resolution 1540 aimed to prevent the acquisition by non-state actors of weapons of mass destruction and related materials. 05/27/2005 10/10/2006 7th NPT RevCon fails First DPRK nuclear weapon 2-27 May 2005, Seventh NPT Review Conference convenes in New York, concludes without a consensus final document. North Korea conducts its first nuclear weapon test.
03/21/2009 04/05/2009 07/15/2009 test Central Asian NWFZ in President Obama's Prague Speech Pelindaba Treaty in Central Asian NWFZ is the first such zone located entirely in the Northern hemisphere. Three of the "official" five nuclear-weapon-states (France, UK, US) refuse to recognize the zone. U.S. President Obama outlines his vision for achieving a world free of nuclear weapons in Prague, Czech Republic. The Pelindaba Treaty, a NWFZ covering all of Africa, enters into. 04/08/2010 04/12/2010 05/03/2010 05/28/2010 02/05/2011 New START Nuclear Security Summit US Discloses s Stockpile Numbers 2010 NPT Review Conference ends New START enters into The Treaty between The United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) opens for signature. 12-13 April, First Nuclear Security Summit takes place in Washington, DC, bringing together leaders of 46 states who pledge to secure all vulnerable nuclear material in four years. US s Stockpile Fact SheetThe United States, in an effort to promote transparency, released declassified information about its nuclear stockpile, stating it possessed 5,113 nuclear weapons. The eighth NPT Review Conference concludes in New York. Consensus Final Document includes an action plan of 64 items on nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful uses. The action plan also contained a set of decisions to advance the implementation of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. U.S. Senate gives its consent to the treaty on 22 December 2010, and Russian Parliament completes ratification of the New START on 26 January 26 2011. On 22 March, Russia and the United States begin the exchange of data as stipulated by the treaty. 03/11/2011 Fukushima disaster A 9.0 magnitute earthquake and subsequent tsunami rock Japan, triggering nuclear accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants.