Operation First Lightning (RDS-1) Nuclear Test
Sector: Government • Location: Semipalatinsk, Soviet Union
Source: TheCollector
The Soviet Union's first nuclear test conducted on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. The device, code-named 'First Lightning' or RDS-1, was a plutonium implosion bomb similar in design to the Manhattan Project's 'Fat Man' device. The test produced an explosion equivalent to approximately 22 kilotons of TNT, comparable to the bombs dropped by the United States on Hirosh
- Status
- Closed
- Sector
- Government, Nuclear
- Location
- Semipalatinsk, Russia
- Updated
- 22 Jul 2026
- Source
- TheCollector
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Project Information
Participants
| Not available for this record. |
Status
Original status | completed |
Taiyo status | Closed |
Taiyo last update | 2026-07-22 |
Contact
| Not available for this record. |
Description
Description | The Soviet Union's first nuclear test conducted on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. The device, code-named 'First Lightning' or RDS-1, was a plutonium implosion bomb similar in design to the Manhattan Project's 'Fat Man' device. The test produced an explosion equivalent to approximately 22 kilotons of TNT, comparable to the bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
Original sector | Military |
Location
Country | Russia |
City | Semipalatinsk |
Source
Source | TheCollector |
URL |
More Details
Record type | Project |
Sector | Government, Nuclear |
Article published date | 2026-05-09 |
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