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A chronology of controversies
DESPITE THE horrors brought about by the atom bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago, the United States proceeded to invest heavily in the production of nuclear weapons. The country was soon joined by Russia in the quest for weapons of mass destruction.
In time, several other countries followed suit. Here is a chronology, detailing which country built what, and when:
1905 — Albert Einstein publishes the Theory of Relativity.
March 3, 1939 — Leo Szilard’s experiments confirm the possibility of an atomic chain reaction.
Aug 2, 1939 — Albert Einstein signs a letter warning President Franklin Roosevelt of German atomic research.
Sept 26, 1939 — German scientists form the Uranium Society, which concludes that power from the fission of Uranium-238 could create a tremendous explosion.
Oct 1941 — The British begin research under the code name “Tube Alloys”.
June 17, 1942 — The first US atomic bomb project is organized under the code name Manhattan Project.
July 16, 1945 — The first atomic bomb is detonated at a test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Aug 6, 1945 — The B-29 “Enola Gay” drops the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
Aug 9, 1945 — The B-29 “Bock’s Car” drops the second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
1946 — The US begins regular testing of atomic bombs.
Sept 23, 1949 — President Truman announces that the Soviet Union has exploded its own atomic bomb.
Nov 2, 1952 — The first US hydrogen bomb is tested at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
1952 — The United Kingdom tests its first nuclear weapon.
Jan 17, 1955 — The first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, is launched.
Aug 27, 1957 — The Soviets test the first ICBM.
1960 — France tests its first nuclear weapon.
1964 — The People’s Republic of China tests its first nuclear weapon
May 18, 1974 — India tests a nuclear device.
Aug 1980 — Randall Forshing issues the “Call to Halt”; the Nuclear Freeze Movement begins.
1988 — North Korea removes thirty pounds of plutonium from Yongbyon Reactor I and builds two nuclear weapons.
May 11, 1995 — Many nations agree to make permanent the 25-year-old Non-Proliferation Treaty on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. A UN conference publicly approves indefinite extension of the 178-member agreement.
May 15, 1995 — China conducts an underground nuclear test.
Aug 17, 1995 — China undertakes its second underground nuclear test in five months.
Oct 1, 1995 — France conducts second blast of series at Fangataufa atoll. Sixteen-nation South Pacific Forum suspends ties with Paris.
Oct 27, 1995 — France sets off third nuclear explosion, the fourth and fifth tests are detonated on Nov 21 and Dec 27 respectively. The sixth test is conducted on Jan 27, 1996.
June 8, 1996 — China detonates a nuclear explosion at the Lop Nor test site.
Sept 11, 1996 — United Nations approves Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans nuclear test explosions but not laboratory testing to refine nuclear weapons.
July 2, 1997 — United States begins a round of controversial underground tests in the Nevada desert.
Sept 18, 1997 — The US conducts a second test.
May 11, 1998 — India conducts three underground tests close to the Pakistan border; two more tests on May 13.
May 28, 1998 — Pakistan conducts six nuclear weapons tests.
Oct 16, 2002 — North Korea tells US officials it has developed a secret nuclear weapons programme in violation of the 1994 agreement.
Jan 10, 2003 — North Korea announces it will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Feb 9, 2003 — Iran acknowledges that it has uranium ore reserves and that it will reprocess the spent fuel. But it insists its nuclear programme is designed solely for civilian use. — Sci-tech World Report
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