596 is the codename of the People's Republic of China's first nuclear weapons test. On October 16, 1964 - China exploded its first atomic bomb at the Lop Nor test site. It was a uranium 235 implosion fission device and had a yield of 22 kilotons. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in Leap years). ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... Lop Nur (alternately Lop Nor or Lo-pu po) is a group of small salt lakes and marshes in the desert in Malan, Xinjiang, in Northwestern China. ... Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that differs from the elements other common isotope, uranium-238, by its ability to cause a rapidly expanding fission chain reaction, i. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ...

History

China began developing nuclear weapons in the late 1950s with substantial Soviet assistance. Before 1960 direct Soviet military assistance had included the provision of advisors and a vast variety of equipment. Of the assistance provided, most significant to China's future strategic nuclear capability were an experimental nuclear reactor, facilities for processing uranium, a cyclotron, and some equipment for a gaseous diffusions plant.

When Sino-Soviet relations cooled in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union withheld plans and data for an atomic bomb, abrogated the agreement on transferring defense technology, and began the withdrawal of Soviet advisers in 1960. Despite the termination of Soviet assistance, China committed itself to continue nuclear weapons development to break "the superpowers' monopoly on nuclear weapons," to ensure Chinese security against the Soviet and United States threats, and to increase Chinese prestige and power internationally.

China made remarkable progress in the 1960s in developing nuclear weapons. In a thirty-two-month period, China successfully exploded its first atomic bomb (October 16, 1964), launched its first nuclear missile (October 25, 1966), and detonated its first hydrogen bomb (June 14, 1967).

Specifics

• Time: 07:00 16 October 1964 (GMT)
• Location: Lop Nur Test Ground, 42.35 N, 88.30 E
• Test Height and Type: Tower, 102 m
• Yield: 22 Kt

External links

• China's Nuclear Weapons from the Nuclear Weapon Archive