Fizzle (nuclear explosion)

A fizzle occurs when the detonation of a device for creating a nuclear explosion (such as a nuclear weapon) grossly fails to meet its expected yield. The cause(s) for the failure can be linked to improper design, poor construction, or lack of expertise. All countries that have had a nuclear weapons testing program have experienced some fizzles. A fizzle can spread radioactive material throughout the surrounding area, involve a partial fission reaction of the fissile material, or both. For practical purposes, a fizzle can still have considerable explosive yield when compared to conventional weapons.

In multistage fission-fusion weapons, full yield of the fission primary that fails to initiate fusion ignition in the fusion secondary is also considered a "fizzle", as the weapon failed to reach its design yield despite the fission primary working correctly. Such fizzles can have very high yields, as in the case of Castle Koon, where a device with a 1 megaton design yield underwent a fusion fizzle, but its primary still generated a yield of 110 kilotons.

Fusion boosting
If a deuterium-tritium mixture is placed at the center of the device to be compressed and heated by the fission explosion, a fission yield of 250 tons is sufficient to cause D-T fusion releasing high-energy fusion neutrons which will then fission much of the remaining fission fuel. This is known as a boosted fission weapon. If a fission device designed for boosting is tested without the boost gas, a yield in the sub-kiloton range may indicate a successful test that the device's implosion and primary fission stages are working as designed, though this does not test the boosting process itself.

Nuclear fission tests considered to be fizzles



 * Buster Able: Considered to be the first known failure of any nuclear device.
 * Upshot–Knothole Ruth: Testing a uranium hydride bomb. The test failed to declassify the site (erase evidence) as it left the bottom third of the 300 ft shot tower still standing.
 * Upshot–Knothole Ray: Similar test conducted the following month. Allegedly a shorter 100 ft tower was chosen, to ensure that the tower would be completely destroyed.
 * 2006 North Korean nuclear test: Russia claimed to have measured 5–15 kt yield, whereas the United States, France, and South Korea measured less than 1 kt yield. This North Korean debut test was weaker than all other countries' initial tests by a factor of 20, and the smallest initial test in history.

Nuclear fusion tests that fizzled

 * Castle Koon: A thermonuclear device whose fusion secondary did not ignite.
 * Short Granite: Dropped by the United Kingdom over Malden Island on May 15, 1957 during Operation Grapple 1, this bomb had an expected yield of over 1 megaton, but only exploded with a force of a quarter of the anticipated yield. The test was still considered successful. Another bomb dropped during Grapple 1, Purple Granite, was hoped to give an improved yield over Short Granite, but the yield was even lower.

Terrorist concerns
One month after the September 11, 2001 attacks, a CIA informant known as "Dragonfire" reported that al-Qaeda had smuggled a low-yield nuclear weapon into New York City. Although the report was found to be false, concerns were expressed that a "fizzle bomb" capable of yielding a fraction of the known 10 kiloton weapons could cause “horrific” consequences. A detonation in New York City would mean thousands of civilian casualties.