Test No. 219

Test deviceSoviet UnionThermonuclear (staged)

No freely licensed photo of this device yet.

Yield · TNT equivalent24.2 Mt

Key specs

Country: Soviet Union
Design: Thermonuclear (staged)
Type: Test device
Number built: 1

Overview

The second-largest nuclear explosion in history, about 24 Mt, set off over Novaya Zemlya at the end of the 1962 Soviet test series, the last high-yield atmospheric test before the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. Sources give the date as 22 or 24 December 1962.

Effect radii: estimates

Calculated for 24.2 Mt

Fireball, maximum radius: ≈ 3.5 km
Initial radiation, 500 rem (5 Sv): ≈ 5.7 km
Blast 5 psi: most buildings collapse: ≈ 21 km
Thermal: third-degree burns: ≈ 42 km
Blast 1 psi: windows shatter: ≈ 64 km

Estimated ground ranges for an air burst at the optimum height over flat, open ground, computed from the yield with standard scaling laws. These are not measurements: real effects depend on the height of burst, terrain, buildings and weather.

Formulas from: Glasstone & Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977), chapter II; Carey Sublette, Nuclear Weapons FAQ, section 5

Tests and use

Date	Event	Site	Yield
Dec 24, 1962	Test No. 219	Novaya Zemlya, USSR	24.2 Mt

Sources

Soviet Nuclear Test Summary, Nuclear Weapon Archive (Carey Sublette)
Test 219, Wikipedia