Artificial radiation belts are radiation belts that have been created by high-altitude nuclear explosions.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto"
|+ List of Artificial Radiation Belts
! Explosion
! Location
! Date
! Yield (approximate)
! Altitude (km)
! Nation of Origin
|-
| Hardtack Teak
| Johnston Island (Pacific)
| 1958-08-01
| 3.8 megatons
| 76.8
| United States
|-
| Hardtack Orange
| Johnston Island (Pacific)
| 1958-08-12
| 3.8 megatons
| 43
| United States
|-
| Argus I
| South Atlantic
| 1958-08-27
| 1-2 kilotons
| 200
| United States
|-
| Argus II
| South Atlantic
| 1958-08-30
| 1-2 kilotons
| 256
| United States
|-
| Argus III
| South Atlantic
| 1958-09-06
| 1-2 kilotons
| 539
| United States
|-
| Starfish Prime
| Johnston Island (Pacific)
| 1962-07-09
| 1.4 megatons
| 400
| United States
|-
| K-3
| Kazakhstan
| 1962-10-22
| 300 kilotons
| 290
| USSR
|-
| K-4
| Kazakhstan
| 1962-10-28
| 300 kilotons
| 150
| USSR
|-
| K-5
| Kazakhstan
| 1962-11-01
| 300 kilotons
| 59
| USSR
|}
The table above only lists those high-altitude nuclear explosions for which a reference exists in the open (unclassified) English-language scientific literature to persistent artificial radiation belts resulting from the explosion.
The Starfish Prime radiation belt had, by far, the greatest intensity and duration of any of the artificial radiation belts.
In Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory report LA-6405, Herman Hoerlin gave the following explanation of the history of the original Argus experiment and of how the nuclear detonations led to the development of artificial radiation belts.
See also
- Christofilos effect
- Operation Argus
- Hardtack Teak
- Outer Space Treaty
- Soviet Project K nuclear tests
- Starfish Prime
- Operation Fishbowl
- Van Allen radiation belt
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Lists of environmental topics
- Nicholas Christofilos