World's 10 secret nuclear testing sites to know about

New Delhi: Only a few nations possess nuclear weapons or are suspected of seeking them. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and that acknowledge possessing such weapons are United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it does not acknowledge having them.USA, UK and Russia all stopped testing in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War and signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996. Emerging powers such as India and Pakistan didn't sign, and there are still concerns over their nuclear capacity.North Korea is another state suspected of stockpiling nuclear weapons, despite promises in 2005 to stop the nuclear program.Here we present a list of ten secret destinations of Nuclear testing,have a look:1. Semipalatinsk, Kazahkstan It was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. In the 40 years between 1949 and 1989, almost 456 tests were conducted here. An open letter from the Embassy of Kazakhstan later described the “horrifying array of diseases” that have emerged in the wake of the testing. The site finally closed in 1991.2. Christmas IslandThe Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. This was the site of both British and American testing in the 1950s and 60s. The British detonated their first successful bomb over the island in November 1957 and carried on with atmospheric explosions through 1958 as part of “Operation Grapple”. The US carried out 22 detonations there in 1962 as well. Neither country evacuated the islanders during the blasts and some reports say that their own servicemen were not issued with protective clothing.As a result of the blast there was a heavy rainfall immediately after the blasts, dead fish rose to the surface and thousands of birds were blinded by the light of the blast. The long-term effects on the island and the islanders are still unclear.3. Jornada Del Muerto, New Mexico The Jornada del Muerto Volcano is a small shield volcano and lava field in central New Mexico.This was the site of the first ever nuclear detonation in 1945, with the code name of “Trinity”. On July 16 1945 the bomb was detonated. It left a crater that was 3m deep and 340m wide. The Trinity site today still carries a background radiation level 10 times higher than usual, and the test led to many others over the next fifty years.4. Quds, Iran It has long been suspected that Iran was harboring nuclear weapons, despite signing the CTBT and there has recently been confirmation of a testing facility known only as “Quds”, a word which is synonymous with the Arabic word for Jerusalem. As it's such a recent discovery, very little is known about “Quds”, but boasting on Mashregh News, run by the National Guard, suggests that the nuclear warheads there may be pointed at Israel. 5. Totskoye, RussiaTotskoye is a rural locality and the administrative center of Totsky District of Orenburg Oblast, Russia.In 1954, the Totskoye range was the site of the Soviet nuclear tests.The site was chosen by military hero Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov for the test. The aim was to test the response of the soldiers and their equipment in the event of a nuclear explosion and the soldiers were told to approach the area 3 hours after the explosion had taken place.Selected local villages were told of the test and offered temporary evacuation, but most of the local people were unaware, as were the soldiers. Unsurprisingly and tragically, many of these soldiers and locals went on to develop cancer and die, from the dose of radiation they'd received. 6. Iron Range, Australia Iron Range is a National Park located in Queensland, Australia, Within the National Park is the Iron Range. During World War II several Australian Army units were stationed in the area.It also harbor a nuclear secret during the Cold War years.The “Operation Blowdown”, in which an airburst nuclear device was detonated by UK, USA and Australian military forces, in order to test how the rainforest would withstand such a blast has been described as a nuclear explosion, as per some contemporary documents.In 2001 a spokesperson for the Defense Minister, Peter Reith, said that it was TNT, designed to simulate the effects of a blast. 7. Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean. After WW2 the residents were evacuated, often involuntarily, and the atoll was used for nuclear testing as part of the U.S. Pacific Proving Grounds.The $239 million clean-up operation started in 1977 and much of the radioactive material was buried in cement below a large concrete dome.In 1980, the islands were declared safe for re-habitation and the islanders returned. 8. Lop Nur, China Lop Nur or Lop Nor is a former salt lake, now largely dried-up, located between the Taklamakan and Kumtag deserts in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China.A secret testing took place here in 1998 . British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew to China to discuss the testing, against a background of hideous deformities and cancer rates that were 35% higher in Xinjiang than in the rest of the country.9. P'unggye , North KoreaThis is one site that has taken on increased significance recently, as North Korea declares that they are at war with South Korea. They have conducted three nuclear tests, at least one of which was at P'unggye, not far from the coast. The second of these tests occurred on May 25, 2009 and was conducted a kilometer underground, with the utmost secrecy. However, the secret was discovered when GPS receivers in the area picked up signals, and the Western powers were alerted about the test. 10. Area 51, USAIt is a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (133 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas.The dirty bomb was detonated in April 1957, spreading the an area of 895 square acres with Plutonium. Some clean-up was attempted, but the area was mostly just fenced off with barbed wire.The facility was closed in 1973. Though there are no hard evidence of all such events here.