To a degree it still isn't, although some now suggest it could be above five
kilotons. However, this doesn't change what's being contemplated: a weapon that appears to avoid the kind of casualties that put current nukes outside the boundary of political acceptability.
"My own back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests a yield of between 4 and 15
kilotons."
The explosion yield was approximately a few
kilotons. Analysis of the event continues." (82) The lack of certainty on whether the test was nuclear arises because seismic signals, including those detected by 61 stations of the International Monitoring System (described below), (83) were consistent with a nuclear test, and seismic signals from the 2006 and 2009 events were very similar, (84) but open sources did not report the detection of physical evidence that would provide conclusive proof of a nuclear test, such as radioactive isotopes of noble gases, especially those having short half-lives, or radioactive particulates (i.e., fallout).
A second test in May 2009 is believed to have been about two
kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012.
The company plans to increase name-plate capacity at its polyols plant in Terneuzen, The Netherlands by 180
kilotons per year, and at its propylene glycol facility in Stade, Germany by 80
kilotons per year.
On Sunday, South Korea's Kim Young-woo of the minor opposition Bareun Party said that the explosive power of the latest nuke apparently appeared to be much stronger than Pyongyang's fifth one estimated to have a yield of 10
kilotons. One
kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.
9, 2006, and was a small test of less than one
kiloton. One
kiloton is equal to around 1000 tons of TNT.
Department of Energy technicians rigged up more than a million kilograms of chemical explosives, comparable to a small, 1-
kiloton nuclear bomb.
9, 2006 and was a small test of less than one
kiloton. One
kiloton is equal to around one-thousand tons of TNT.
In bomb equivalents, it would correspond to less than a half
kiloton explosion.
The source, who is said to have direct knowledge of the message and is close contact with both Beijing and Pyongyang's top officials, said that North Korea's future nuclear tests would be much larger, with a device yielding 10
kilotons, compared to the most recent test which was 6-7
kilotons (one
kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.)
With the present state of technology, most experts agree that seismic networks can easily detect events well below the 150
kiloton (KT) limit of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT).
