2006 North Korean nuclear test

2006 North Korean nuclear test
2006 North Korean nuclear test
	Graphic showing seismic activity at the time of the test
Information
Country	North Korea
Test site	Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, Kilju County
Period	10:35:28 KST, October 9, 2006
Number of tests	1
Test type	Unknown
Device type	Fission
Max. yield	0.48 kilotons of TNT (2.0 TJ) (Chinese academics); 0.55–12 kilotons of TNT (2.3–50.2 TJ) (Jane's Defence Weekly & South Korean estimates, but raised doubts on the lower end estimates because it does not correspond with the 4.2 Richter scale); 5–15 kilotons of TNT (21–63 TJ); 0.7–2 kilotons of TNT (2.9–8.4 TJ)(estimations from Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources);
Test chronology

2km
1.2miles

South

West

East

North portal

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Location of North Korea's nuclear tests
1: 2006; 2: 2009; 3: 2013; 4: 2016-01; 5: 2016-09; 6: 2017;

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On October 9, 2006, North Korea performed its first nuclear test, detonating a plutonium-based device underground.

On October 3, 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally estimated to have had an explosive force of less than one kiloton, and some radioactive output was detected. United States officials suggested the device may have been a nuclear explosive that misfired.

An anonymous official at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing told a South Korean newspaper that the explosive output was smaller than expected. Because of the secretive nature of North Korea and small yield of the test, there remains some question as to whether it was a successful test of an unusually small device (which would have required sophisticated technology), or a partially failed "fizzle" or dud. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 0.48 kilotons.

Reportedly the government of the People's Republic of China was given a 20-minute advance notification that the test was about to occur. China sent an emergency alert to Washington, D.C., through the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at which time President George W. Bush was told by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley "shortly after" 10 p.m. (UTC-5) that a test was imminent.