2006 North Korean nuclear test

2006 North Korean Nuclear Test
Graphic showing seismic activity at the time of the test
Information
Country	North Korea
Test site	Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, Kilju County.
Period	October 9, 2006
Number of tests	1
Test type	Unknown
Device type	Fission
Max. yield	0.48 kilotons of TNT (2.0 TJ) (Chinese academics) 0.55–12 kilotons of TNT (2.3–50.2 TJ) (Jane's Defence Weekly & South Korean estimates, but raised doubts on the lower end estimates because it does not correspond with the 4.2 Richter scale) 5–15 kilotons of TNT (21–63 TJ) 0.7–2 kilotons of TNT (2.9–8.4 TJ)(Estimations from Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources)
Navigation
Previous test	None
Next test	2009 test

The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted by North Korea on October 9, 2006.

On October 3, 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally 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. Because of the secretive nature of North Korea and small yield of the test, there remains some question as to whether it was a successful test of an unusually small device (which would have required sophisticated technology), or a partially failed "fizzle" or dud. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 0.48 kilotons.

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. China sent an emergency alert to Washington, D.C., through the U.S. embassy in Beijing at which time President George W. Bush was told by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley "shortly after" 10 p.m. (UTC-5) that a test was imminent.

North Korea had been suspected of maintaining a clandestine nuclear weapons development program since the early 1980s when it constructed a plutonium-producing Magnox nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, and various diplomatic means had been used by the international community to attempt to limit North Korea's nuclear work to peaceful and scientific means and encouraging North Korea to participate in international treaties. In 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the "Agreed Framework", whereby North Korea agreed to freeze its graphite moderated reactor program in exchange for fuel, moves toward normalization of political and economic relations, and the construction of two modern nuclear power plants powered by light-water reactors. Eventually, North Korea's existing nuclear facilities were to be dismantled, and the spent reactor fuel taken out of the country.