The North Korean Nuclear Test ( 2006 )

October 9, 2006

North Korea announced its intention to conduct a test on October 3, six days prior, and in doing so became the first nation to give warning of its first nuclear test. The blast is estimated to have had an explosive force of less than one kiloton, and some radioactive output was detected. United States officials suggested the device may have been a nuclear explosive that misfired.

An anonymous official at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing told a South Korean newspaper that the explosive output was smaller than expected. Due to the secretive nature of North Korea and small yield of the test, there remains some question as to whether it was an unusually small successful test, or a partially failed “fizzle” or dud.

It was reported that the government of the People’s Republic of China was given a 20-minute advance warning that the test was about to occur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Korean_nuclear_test

( picture is not of test )