We set off 16 nuclear bombs on Bikini Atoll and the last time I looked there are still people living on the planet.
A listing of above ground nuclear detonations. (These actually did throw a lot of radioactive dust into the air)
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/atest00.html
That’s nothing look at these numbers: Between 1951 and 1992, there were a total of 928 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site. Of those, 828 were underground. Sixty-two of the underground tests included multiple, simultaneous nuclear detonations, adding 93 detonations and bringing the total number of NTS nuclear detonations to 1,021, of which 921 were underground. The Nevada Test Site was the primary testing location of American nuclear devices; 126 tests were conducted elsewhere (many at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands).