The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project was completed in August 1998 and resulted in the book Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 edited by Stephen I. Schwartz. These project pages should be considered historical.


This test involved a 21 kiloton device dropped from a B-50 bomber. The device exploded at a height of 1,417 feet (432 meters).

Troops participating in exercises at “Camp Desert Rock” (the Nevada Test Site) observe the formation of a mushroom cloud following the detonation of the Dog test on November 1, 1951. This test involved a 21 kiloton device dropped from a B-50 bomber. The device exploded at a height of 1,417 feet (432 meters).

The same scene, moments later.The same scene, moments later.

Credit: Defense Special Weapons Agency