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Appendix 8B. Nuclear explosions, 1945–2009
Contents
Appendix 8B gives details of the nuclear test explosion in North Korea in 2009 and gives cumulative totals of all nuclear explosions since 1945.
Summary
In May 2009 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) conducted what is widely believed to be a nuclear test explosion. This was North Korea’s second nuclear explosion, following one conducted in October 2006, and brought the total number of nuclear explosions recorded since 1945 to 2054.
Vitaly Fedchenko (Russia) is a Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme, with responsibility for nuclear security issues and the political, technological and educational dimensions of nuclear arms control and non-proliferation.
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