The most powerful nuclear explosions captured on camera

If there had ever been an image of beauty representing cruelty, power bearing unimaginable harm, or the ability of man to destroy nature, then a mushroom from a nuclear explosion would be an accurate representation of it. Since its creation in the 1940s under the auspices of the Manhattan Project, nuclear bombs have become a symbol of the modern world. We decided to recall the most powerful nuclear explosions that thundered on the planet, and captured on camera. 

Operation Ivy-Mike The world's first successful test of a thermonuclear explosive device was conducted by the United States on November 1, 1952. The estimated power of the explosion was 10-12 megatons of TNT equivalent, which exceeded the power of the explosion from the bomb dropped on Nagasaki by 500 times.

The cloud from the explosion rose 37 kilometers, and the diameter of the mushroom was 160 kilometers.The test was filmed by US Air Force operators.

Operation Castle-Romeo Operation Castle-Romeo is described as the third most powerful explosion produced by the United States – 11 megatons of TNT equivalent.

The device was detonated on March 27, 1954, on a barge moored in the middle of the crater that remained after the previous Castle Bravo nuclear test. This is the first test that was decided to be carried out on a barge, because it was discovered that an explosion could destroy an artificial island on the reef, Bikini Atoll, where the tests were conducted.

Operation Castle Yankee was conducted just a month after Castle Romeo on May 5, 1954 and again at Bikini Atoll. The power of the explosion, as expected, was supposed to be 6-10 megatons, but the explosion thundered with 13.5 megatons in TNT equivalent. And this was the second most powerful nuclear explosion produced by the United States.2 minutes after the explosion, the height of the mushroom cloud was 12 kilometers, and after 10 minutes - all 40 kilometers. The diameter of the "hat" is 16 kilometers.

Operation Castle Bravo The explosion of a nuclear bomb on March 1, 1954 during the Castle Bravo tests is the most powerful explosion produced by the United States to this day. The estimated power of the explosion is 15 megatons of TNT equivalent, which exceeds 1,200 times the explosion from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. However, the tests entailed severe radiation pollution, which forced the whole world to reconsider its views on nuclear weapons.

The cloud from the explosion quickly rose to a huge height – in a minute it reached the mark of 15 kilometers, in 8 minutes it exceeded the mark of 40 kilometers. The diameter of the "hat" was 100 kilometers. The width of the crater left after the explosion was 2 kilometers, and the depth was 75 meters.

Tsar Bombas, the most powerful bomb in the history of mankind, was created and detonated on October 30, 1961. The energy of the explosion was about 55 megatons in TNT equivalent, which is 10 times more powerful than the explosions from all the bombs of the Second World War, including those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.