NationStates Jolt Archive

I have a question that a friend and I were discussing over some beer the other night. I know there are a lot of armchair weapon "experts" on here.

Could a nuclear weapons test occur somewhere on the planet without anyone noticing? Could be anywhere on the surface or even underground. Could a nation test without others knowledge?

I have a question that a friend and I were discussing over some beer the other night. I know there are a lot of armchair weapon "experts" on here.

Could a nuclear weapons test occur somewhere on the planet without anyone noticing? Could be anywhere on the surface or even underground. Could a nation test without others knowledge?

Highly unlikely. There are ways of concealing the true magnitude of an underground test (detonating in a pre excavated cave lessens the shockwave, I believe) but the shockwaves - either seismic or atmospheric - are easily detectable.

Highly unlikely. There are ways of concealing the true magnitude of an underground test (detonating in a pre excavated cave lessens the shockwave, I believe) but the shockwaves - either seismic or atmospheric - are easily detectable.

Don't forget the sensors that can detect Nuclear fallout in the atmosphere.

Arguably no.

But then there is the Vela incident.

Don't forget the sensors that can detect Nuclear fallout in the atmosphere.

True, though a properly sealed underground test would cause little to no fallout, I think.

Interestingly, nearly all the plutonium in the Earths oceans is from nuclear weapons test.

Sure. Not all tests are of the "blow everything sky high" variety. Other components of nuclear weapons can be tested (such as the electronics and delivery systems) and no one would be able to tell. Full scale tests might be difficult to hide, although I think it may be possible to hide them to some degree if they are underground, and I would hazard a guess that if it were a small scale explosion, there might well be plausible explanations put forth to disguise the nature of the test.

Of course, the other thing to consider is that if it were a small enough organization constructing the device, they might only have the one and not want to waste it on a test. But of course, this is the paranoid crime novelist scenario.

Of course, the point of weapons tests is not to hide them. You want people to now that you are nuclear capable.

Arguably no.

But then there is the Vela incident.

Yeah I always figured that South Africa tested.

I speculated this scenario in the far the South Pacific by lets say N Korea or even Israel or Iran. The only way I figured it could pass by without true conformation.

True, though a properly sealed underground test would cause little to no fallout, I think.

Interestingly, nearly all the plutonium in the Earths oceans is from nuclear weapons test.

Ahh, so thats why my drinking water taste green.

Of course, the point of weapons tests is not to hide them. You want people to now that you are nuclear capable.

How about Iran's case?

How about Iran's case?

Why would Iran want to keep it secret once it has them? It's the bit where you are developing them, but don't yet have them, where you are vulnerable.

Once you've got them it's not like anyone is going to invade you and take them off you.

Ahh, so thats why my drinking water taste green.

Because you have synesthesia

Why would Iran want to keep it secret once it has them? It's the bit where you are developing them, but don't yet have them, where you are vulnerable.

Once you've got them it's not like anyone is going to invade you and take them off you.

How about the nuke Israel and then claim they never were close? I mean if they actually bombed Israel with everyone knowing it was them, they would be glassed.

How about the nuke Israel and then claim they never were close? I mean if they actually bombed Israel with everyone knowing it was them, they would be glassed.

Why bother with a test then?

How about the nuke Israel and then claim they never were close? I mean if they actually bombed Israel with everyone knowing it was them, they would be glassed.

I think regardless of who lobs the first Nuclear bomb, as soon as a Nuclear strike is launched against anyone, we should see a Nuclear Winter very soon after the first strike.

I have a question that a friend and I were discussing over some beer the other night. I know there are a lot of armchair weapon "experts" on here.

Could a nuclear weapons test occur somewhere on the planet without anyone noticing? Could be anywhere on the surface or even underground. Could a nation test without others knowledge?

Even if you can hide the relative yield with an underground detonation, the seismic and EMP are a dead giveaway for the detonation.

Why bother with a test then?

You wouldn't want a Uranium or Plutonium filled bomb drop without detonation. Wouldn't be to hard to figure out where it came from then.

Hiding an atmospheric test is a bit hard due to how much satellite imaging goes on. And even if you fire an underground test, earthquake elsewhere sensors would pick up the shockwaves anyway.

You wouldn't want a Uranium or Plutonium filled bomb drop without detonation. Wouldn't be to hard to figure out where it came from then.

I don't imagine that they would be using a new design, but rather one that had been tried and tested already. In any case, it's not like they couldn't get test data from their little buddy North Korea.

I'm not sure they could get away with nuking Israel anyway, regardless whether or not they had conducted nuclear tests.

I have a question that a friend and I were discussing over some beer the other night. I know there are a lot of armchair weapon "experts" on here.

Could a nuclear weapons test occur somewhere on the planet without anyone noticing? Could be anywhere on the surface or even underground. Could a nation test without others knowledge?

I do believe that even a small nuclear blast would be detected no matter if it were above or below the surface. The way everyone knows this, is that seismic detectors used in geologic plate movement pick up the explosion, which has a unique signature vibration on seismic instrumentation. They also don't have after shocks. The information can be picked up no matter where the blast occurs relative to the detection instrument as it the sound waves move through the earth. At least from a elementary understanding of geology not from a weapons back ground.