Soviets Cut Tsar Bomba Yield in Half Before 1961 Test, Sakharov Design Change Averted 100-Megaton Blast
On October 30, 1961, the Soviet Union detonated the Tsar Bomba over Severny Island, marking it as the most powerful man-made explosion in history. Initially designed to yield 100 megatons, physicist Andrei Sakharov reduced its power to 50 megatons to limit radioactive fallout. A Tupolev Tu-95 bomber launched from Olenya airbase at 9:30 a.m. and released the bomb at 11:32 a.m. The explosion produced a five-mile-wide fireball and sent a mushroom cloud soaring 42 miles high, with seismic waves recording the blast globally. This test contributed to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty aimed at curbing nuclear tests.
Key facts
- The Tsar Bomba was detonated on October 30, 1961, over Sukhoy Nos, Severny Island, north of the Arctic Circle.
- Its yield exceeded 3,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
- The bomb was originally designed for 100 megatons but was scaled back to 50 megatons by Andrei Sakharov.
- The modified Tupolev Tu-95 bomber carried a 30-ton bomb and took off from Olenya airbase at about 9:30 a.m.; detonation occurred at 11:32 a.m.
- The explosion created a five-mile-wide fireball, a flare visible in Alaska, and a 42-mile-high mushroom cloud.
- The seismic wave from the blast circled the Earth three times.
- The test, along with the 1954 U.S. Castle Bravo test at Bikini Atoll, led to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty.
- Andrei Sakharov received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 and the EU's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is named after him.
Entities
Artists
- Andrei Sakharov
- Ronald Reagan
Institutions
- Soviet Union
- United States
- Nobel Peace Prize
- European Union
- Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
- TheCollector
Locations
- Russia
- Sukhoy Nos
- Severny Island
- Arctic Circle
- Alaska
- Hiroshima
- Nagasaki
- Japan
- Bikini Atoll
- Olenya airbase
- Sarov