Which 8 countries known to have tested nulcear weapons prior to North Korea?

Question

I am really after a detailed list of all 8. Ideally please tell me how you know. I am sure I can get this info fairly easily elsewhere but thought i'd give this a go for my first time. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/ctbt/read9.html

Answer 2

The U.S., USSR; U.K.; FRANCE; Peoples Republic of China; India; Pakistan. Suspected North Korea; Isreal Iran Saudi Arabia Formely had South Africa Belarus Kazakhstan Ukraine

Answer 3

Apparently there are only eight countries in total that have performed nuclear tests. These are the USA, Russia, the UK, France, India, Pakistan, China and North Korea. There are rumours of an Israeli / South African collaboration, but no real proof.

Answer 4

Nuclear weapons states

US · Russia · UK · France
China · India · Pakistan
Israel · North Korea

Technically it was the old USSR that was second not present day Russia.

Further too the high degree of French testing, they probably wanted to make certain that they would work so that if the Germans ever took control of them they wouldn't get in any trouble!

Answer 5

Further, it was the Pakistani government that sold the equipment to North Korea , that paved the way for the NK Nuke Test.

The leading nuke scientist in Pakistan is considered to be a national hero in that country. Yet he is on the Bush's bad boy list.

Answer 6

USA, Britain, Israel, France, India, Pakistan, USSR (no longer exists), and now the infamous 2-year-old with a loaded 45! Aren't we all excited about this new little infantile terror! (The rest of the world seems to have learned that having a loaded 45 in your hands is only for the "responsible adults" in the world.)

Answer 7

USA, USSR, China, India, Pakistan, France, Britain

Answer 8

France has ruined the pacific beauty around Tahiti and killed off thousands of families welfare in doing so!

Answer 9

All the countries who are today crying foul about n.Korea tests. Seems they don't want anyone else in their exclusive club.

Answer 10

The United States of America developed the first atomic weapons during World War II out of the fear that Nazi Germany would develop them first. It tested its first nuclear weapon in 1945 ("Trinity"), and remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons against another nation, during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (see: Manhattan Project). It was the first nation to develop the hydrogen bomb, testing it ("Ivy Mike") in 1952 and a deployable version in 1954 ("Castle Bravo").
The USSR tested its first nuclear weapon ("Joe-1") in 1949, in a crash project developed partially with espionage obtained during and after World War II (see: Soviet atomic bomb project). The direct motivation for their weapons development was the development of a balance of power during the Cold War. It tested a primitive hydrogen bomb in 1953 ("Joe-4") and a megaton-range hydrogen bomb in 1955 ("RDS-37"). The Soviet Union also tested the most powerful explosive ever detonated by humans, ("Tsar Bomba"), which had a yield of 100 megatons, but was intentionally reduced to 50. After its dissolution in 1991, its weapons entered officially into the possession of Russia.
The United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon ("Hurricane") in 1952, drawing largely on data gained while collaborating with the United States during the Manhattan Project. Its program was motivated to have an independent deterrence against the USSR, while also remaining relevant in Cold War Europe. It tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1957.
France tested its first nuclear weapon in 1960, also as an independent deterrence and to retain perceived Cold War relevance (see: Force de frappe). It tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1968.
The People's Republic of China tested its first nuclear weapon in 1964, much to the surprise of Western intelligence agencies. It had long sought assistance in becoming a nuclear power from an uneasy USSR, but assistance stopped after the Sino-Soviet split and the weapon was developed as a deterrent against both the USA and the USSR. It tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1967 at Lop Nur. The country is currently thought to have had a stockpile of around 130 warheads, potentially less.
India is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but tested a "peaceful nuclear device", as it was described by the Indian government, in 1974 ("Smiling Buddha"), the first test developed after the creation of the NPT, and created new questions about how civilian nuclear technology could be diverted secretly to weapons purposes (dual-use technology). It appears to have been primarily motivated as a deterrent against China[citation needed]. It tested weaponized nuclear warheads in 1998 ("Operation Shakti"), including a Hydrogen Bomb. In July 2005, it was officially recognized by the United States as a responsible nuclear state and agreed to full nuclear cooperation between the two nations.[13] This is seen as a tacit entry into the nuclear club of the above nations.
Pakistan is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan covertly developed nuclear weapons over many decades, beginning in the late 1970s. Pakistan first delved into nuclear power after the establishment of it's first nuclear power plant near Karachi with the help of Canada in the early 70s. After the detonation of a nuclear bomb by arch rival India, the country gradually started it's own nuclear weapons development program and established secret, mostly underground, nuclear facilities near the capital Islamabad. It is believed that Pakistan already had nuclear weapons capability by the end of the 1980s. However, this was to remain speculative until 1998 when Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests at the Chagai Hills, a few days after India conducted its own tests.


Suspected nuclear states

On October 5, 1986, the British newspaper The Sunday Times ran Mordechai Vanunu's story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal." Israel - Israel is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses to officially confirm or deny having a nuclear arsenal, or to having developed nuclear weapons, or even to having a nuclear weapons program. Although Israel claims that the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona is a "research reactor," no scientific reports based on work done there have ever been published. Extensive information about the program in Dimona was also disclosed by technician Mordechai Vanunu in 1986. Imagery analysts can identify weapon bunkers, mobile missile launchers, and launch sites in satellite photographs. It is believed to possess nuclear weapons by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Israel may have tested a nuclear weapon along with South Africa in 1979, but this has never been confirmed (see Vela Incident). According to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Federation of American Scientists, they possess around 75-200 weapons.

Answer 11

It depends on how you're going to treat the ex-Soviet states. Several of them have the bomb....are they all considered to have tested it?