Atomic demolition munitions Atomic demolition munitions ( ADMs ) , colloquially known as nuclear land mines , are small nuclear explosive device s . ADMs were developed for both military and civilian purposes . As weapons , they were designed to be exploded in the forward battle area , in order to block or channel enemy forces . Non - militarily , they were designed for demolition , mining or earthmoving . However , apart from testing , they have never been used for either purpose . Military uses . Instead of being delivered to the target by missiles , rockets , or artillery shells , ADMs were intended to be emplaced by soldiers . Due to their relatively small size and light weight , ADMs could be emplaced by military engineers or Special Forces teams , then detonated on command or by timer to create massive obstructions . By destroying key terrain features or choke points such as bridges , dams , mountain passes and tunnels , ADMs could block the movement of enemy forces or channel them into prepared killing zone s . According to official accounts , the United States deployed ADMs overseas in Italy and West Germany during the Cold War . Recent scholarship also indicates that the most modern types ( SADM and MADM ) were deployed in South Korea . Civilian uses . ADMs have never been used commercially , although such devices have been used to put out gas - well fires as part of the Soviet test program . The Soviet Union tested the use of nuclear devices for mining and natural gas extraction on several occasions starting in the mid - 1960s , as part of the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program . Tests for similar purposes were carried out in the United States under Operation Plowshare , but due to radioactive contamination caused by the tests , no commercial use was made of the technology . With today ' s greater concerns over the dangers of radiation , it seems unlikely that nuclear explosives will ever be used for non - military purposes . United States ADMs . In the 1950s and 1960s , the United States developed several different types of lightweight nuclear devices . The main one was the W54 , a cylinder 40 by 60 cm ( about 16 by 24 inches ) that weighed 68 kg ( 150 lbs ) . It was fired by a mechanical timer and had a variable yield equivalent to between 10 tons and 1 kt of TNT . A Field non - variable yield version of the W54 nuclear device ( called the " Mk - 54 Davy Crockett " warhead for the M - 388 Crockett round ) was used in the Davy Crockett Weapon System . TADM . The Mk 30 Mod 1 " Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition " ( TADM ) was a portable atomic bomb , consisting of a Mk 30 warhead installed in a X - 113 case . The X - 113 was 26 inches ( 66 cm ) in diameter and 70 inches ( 178 cm ) long , and looked like corrugated culvert pipe . The whole system weighed 840 pounds ( 381 kg ) . Production of the TADM started in 1961 and all were removed from stockpile by 1966 . A weapons effect test of the TADM was made in the Johnny Boy shot of the Dominic II series . The yield of Johnny Boy was . 5 kt . SADM . The " Special Atomic Demolition Munition ( SADM ) " was a family of man - portable nuclear weapon s fielded by the US military in the 1960s , but never used in actual combat . The US Army planned to use the weapons in Europe in the event of a Soviet invasion . US Army Engineers would use the weapon to irradiate , destroy , and deny key routes of communication through limited terrain such as the Fulda Gap . Troops were trained to parachute into Soviet occupied western Europe with the SADM and destroy power plants , bridges , and dams . The weapon was designed to allow one person to parachute from any type of aircraft carrying the weapon package and place it in a harbor or other strategic location that could be accessed from the sea . Another parachutist without a weapon package would follow the first to provide support as needed . The two - person team would place the weapon package in the target location , set the timer , and swim out into the ocean where they would be retrieved by a submarine or a high - speed surface water craft . MADM . The " Medium Atomic Demolition Munition " ( MADM ) was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War . They were designed to be used as nuclear land mines and for other tactical purposes , with a relatively low explosive yield from a W45 warhead , between 1 and 15 kilotons . Each MADM weighted around 400 lb ( 181 kg ) total . They were produced between 1965 and 1986 .