Frequency of radionuclides in remote atmospheric observations of historic nuclear test explosions compared to lists of radionuclides considered for nuclear explosion monitoring

The frequency of radionuclides in remote atmospheric observations of historic nuclear test explosions is established from a collection of papers. These report on tests conducted between 1964 and 1996. Most of these tests occurred in the atmosphere but observation of nuclear debris from venting of underground nuclear tests were also found. The review is limited to off-site monitoring and many observations were done at large distances including several tests that were detected on multiple locations on the same hemisphere. The isotope frequency is compared to several radionuclide lists considered for nuclear explosion monitoring to explore whether these lists match the historic evidence. The objective is to identify opportunities for further studies on validating monitoring methods, including atmospheric transport simulations with the objective of identifying the source of an event that is of relevance for atmospheric radioactivity monitoring for the Comprehensive-Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).