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RDS-5

plutonium-based Soviet atomic bomb

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 29, 2025
Entity authorityQ4386511 ↗
Source-derived summary

The RDS-5 (Russian: РДС-5) was a plutonium based Soviet atomic bomb, probably using a hollow core. Two versions were made. The first version used 2 kg Pu-239 and was expected to yield 9.2 kilotons. The second version used only 0.8 kg Pu-239.

Testing

The two versions of the RDS-5 were tested during a series of 3 tests on September 3, 8 and 10 1953 in the Semipalatinsk test site. The test on September 3 (Joe 6.) was probably of the 2 kg version and achieved a yield of 5.8 kilotons (compared to the expected 9.2 kiloton yield). The test on September 8 was probably of the 0.8 kg version and yielded 1.6 kilotons.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “RDS-5” is plutonium-based Soviet atomic bomb. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through RDS-5, plutonium-based and Soviet, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1953—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, RDS-5, plutonium-based and Soviet is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “plutonium-based Soviet atomic bomb” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4386511. The first chronological checks are 1953.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “RDS-5”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow RDS-5 primary sources, RDS-5 archive and RDS-5 research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “RDS-5” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.