atmospheric test
Above-ground nuclear trial
An atmospheric test is a nuclear weapons test conducted in the open air rather than underground or underwater.
These tests, which peaked during the Cold War arms race, released radioactive fallout into the atmosphere: The 1963 treaty banned atmospheric tests.
The phrase sometimes appears in other contexts where equipment or materials are tested under normal air pressure conditions.
- nuclearOf atomic energy
- nuclear arms raceNations competing for bombs
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- radioactive falloutContaminated particles descending post-blast
- radiationEnergy propagation through space
mushroom cloud · Nevada · bikini · above ground · Cold War · atomic age · explosion · blast · detonation · Castle Bravo · isotope · contamination · Geiger counter · desert · plume · treaty · ban · stratosphere
atmosphere, atmospheric, atmospherically, atmospherics, test, tests, tested, testing, tester