Environmental impacts of underground nuclear weapons testing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Each nuclear weapon test contributes to a global burden of released radioactivity. Between 1945 and 1996, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted, three-quarters of which were underground. Underground nuclear tests involved placing the nuclear device in a cavity drilled or excavated beneath the surface. The goal was to contain the explosion and its effects to the immediate vicinity of the detonation point, ultimately minimizing the release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. While these tests successfully curtailed the atmospheric release and radioactive fallout, they created dynamic responses within crustal formations caused by local shock waves from the explosion. This paper discusses the legacy of underground nuclear testing, addressing issues from containment failure to the phenomenological effects after underground detonations and the pathways of subsequent dispersal of radionuclides to the environment.