Test No. 6 (Project 639)

639

Test deviceChinaThermonuclear (staged)

No freely licensed photo of this device yet.

Yield · TNT equivalent3.3 Mt

Key specs

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

Overview

China’s first two-stage hydrogen bomb, 3.3 Mt, dropped by parachute from an H-6 bomber over Lop Nur in June 1967. It came only 32 months after China’s first fission test, the fastest such progress of any nuclear power.

Effect radii: estimates

Calculated for 3.3 Mt

Fireball, maximum radius: ≈ 1.6 km
Initial radiation, 500 rem (5 Sv): ≈ 3.9 km
Blast 5 psi: most buildings collapse: ≈ 11 km
Thermal: third-degree burns: ≈ 19 km
Blast 1 psi: windows shatter: ≈ 33 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
Jun 17, 1967	Test No. 6 (Project 639)	Lop Nur, Xinjiang, China	3.3 Mt

Sources

Project 639, Wikipedia