Thermonuclear · China · 1967
Test No. 6
Test No. 6 (“639”)
The fastest progression in history: only 32 months after China’s first nuclear test.
See Test No. 6 in the 3D simulator- Yield
- 3.3 MtDocumented
- Energy
- 13.8 PJ
- Type
- First Chinese two-stage thermonuclear device
- Period
- Cold War
- Status
- Single test
Test No. 6 releases about 220 times the energy of Little Boy (Hiroshima, 1945).
Key points
- Dropped by an H-6 bomber.
History
Carried out at the start of the Cultural Revolution, it made China the fourth thermonuclear power, ahead of France.
- 16 October 1964 First Chinese nuclear test (596).
- 17 June 1967 Thermonuclear Test No. 6.
How does it work?
A thermonuclear weapon (“H-bomb”) first uses a fission explosion, which creates the extreme conditions needed to fuse light nuclei (hydrogen isotopes).
Fusion releases a lot of energy per unit of mass and is not limited by a critical mass: this is what makes the megaton range and beyond possible.
One megaton (Mt) is the energy of one million tons of TNT, about 4.2 × 10¹⁵ joules.
Deliberately general explanations: the application provides no design or manufacturing information.
Frequently asked questions
How powerful is Test No. 6?
Test No. 6 has an estimated yield of 3.3 Mt of TNT equivalent, about 13.8 PJ of energy.
What is the history of Test No. 6?
Single test, on 17 June 1967, at Lop Nur. Carried out at the start of the Cultural Revolution, it made China the fourth thermonuclear power, ahead of France.
What does the Test No. 6 explosion look like?
The Bomb Simulator shows the fireball, shock wave and cloud of Test No. 6 at real scale, over Paris, London or New York, with the sources and reliability of each value.
Sources
- Test No. 6 — Wikipedia (overview, to be cross-checked)
Other weapons
- Trinity — 25 kt
- Little Boy — 15 kt
- Fat Man — 21 kt
- RDS-1 — 22 kt
- Hurricane — 25 kt
- RDS-6s — 400 kt
- Gerboise Bleue — 70 kt
- 596 — 22 kt
- Davy Crockett — 20 t
- Ivy Mike — 10.4 Mt
- Castle Bravo — 15 Mt
- RDS-37 — 1.6 Mt
This application is an educational tool. The animations and effect zones are simplified representations meant to illustrate orders of magnitude. They are neither a prediction of the effects of a real weapon nor a military planning tool.