First Chinese Atomic Bomb TestIn 1964, China detonated the country's first atomic bomb, and became the fifth country with nuclear arms after the United States (1945), Great Britain (1953), the Soviet Union (1961), and France. It was determined by the U.S.Atomic Energy Commission to have been exploded in the vicinity of Lop Nor, a lake in a remote area of Central Asia. The AEC characterized it as a low-yield explosion "typical of an early nuclear test" of a fission device employing uranium-235 equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT or less. The Chinese Government stated "This is a major achievement of the Chinese people in their struggle to increase their national defence capability and oppose the U.S. imperialist policy of nuclear blackmail and nuclear threats." |
