2006 North Korean nuclear test
2006 CE.
Shown on the map at 41.294°, 129.134°.
On 9 October 2006, North Korea performed its first nuclear test, detonating a plutonium-based device underground. The test made North Korea the tenth country to develop and the eighth to openly test nuclear weapons. On 3 October 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally estimated to have had an explosive force of less than one kiloton, and some radioactive output was detected. United States officials suggested the device may have been a nuclear explosive that misfired. An anonymous official at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing told a South Korean newspaper that the explosive output was smaller than expected. Because of the secretive nature of North Korea and small yield of the test, there remains some question as to whether it was a successful test of an unusually small device (which would have required sophisticated technology), or a partially failed "fizzle" or dud. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 0.48 kilotons. Reportedly the Chinese government was given a 20-minute advance notification that the test was about to occur. China sent an emergency alert to Washington, D.C., through the U.S.
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