Effect of atmospheric nuclear explosions on total ozone

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Abstract
This paper reviews the current knowledge of the depletion of stratospheric ozone due to the injection of oxides of nitrogen from thermonuclear explosions in the atmosphere, discussing the theoretical calculations, the ground‐based observations of global ozone after the 1961–1962 multimegaton test series, and the satellite observations of local effects following an individual French thermonuclear explosion in 1970. There is general agreement on the approximate NO production per megaton yield and on the subsequent ozone depletion expected to be associated with the various nuclear tests. The latter depletion, as calculated principally by Chang and Johnston, extending earlier work of Foley and Ruderman, is small—typically of the order of several percent during a reasonable observation interval—and lies within the probable error of available ozone measurements. Thus while there is no real disagreement between prediction and observations and no reason to doubt the validity of the predictions of ozone depletion, existing atmospheric data do not provide a statistically significant demonstration of the catalytic destruction of ozone by oxides of nitrogen.