The Nuclear Test Program: Probing the Nature of the Blast
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Questions 1. Name two argument the US government used to convince the American people of the need for the nuclear weapon test program 2. What means “Duck and Cover”? 3. What was the main purpose of Operation Crossroad; what was the test site and how many tests were performed The Nuclear Test Program: probing the Nature of the Blast Blast—40-60% of total energy Thermal radiation—30-50% of total energy Ionizing radiation—5% of total energy Residual radiation (fallout)—5-10% of total energy The results of the weapons test programs Efficiency of explosion Kind and shape of blasts Blast effects, range & damage Thermal effects Radiation effects List of US atmospheric Bomb tests Operation Year Location # Crossroads 1946 Bikini Atoll 2 Sandstone 1948 Enewetak Atoll 3 Ranger 1951 Nevada Test Site 5 Greenhouse 1951 Enewetak Atoll 4 Buster-Jangle 1951 Nevada Test Site 7 Tumbler-Snapper 1951 Nevada Test Site 7 Ivy 1952 Enewetak Atoll 2 Upshot-Knothole 1953 Nevada Test Site 11 Bikini Atoll Castle 1954 6 Enewetak Atoll Teapot 1955 Nevada Test Site 14 Wigwam 1955 Pacific Ocean 1 Pacific Atolls and Nevada desert areas Project 56 1955 Nevada Test Site 4 Bikini Atoll Redwing 1956 17 Enewetak Atoll Plumbbob 1957 Nevada Test Site 30 Project 58 1957 Nevada Test Site 2 Project 58 A 1958 Nevada Test Site 2 Bikini Atoll Hardtack I 1958 Enewetak Atoll 35 Johnston Island Argus 1958 South Atlantic 3 Hardtack II 1958 Nevada Test Site 37 1961- Nougat Nevada Test Site 32 1962 Christmas Island Dominic 1962 Johnston Island 36 (with Fishbowl) Central Pacific Storax (with Sunbeam 1962- Nevada Test Site 56 and Roller 1963 Nellis Air Force Range Coaster) 316 tests until October 10, 1963; Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Classification of atmospheric tests Surface Blast: fireball in touch with surface vaporization of surface structures through blast and firestorm, immediate radioactive fallout Low Altitude Air Blast: fireball < 100,000 ft (without touching ground) generates shock waves, pressure difference artificial for large areal damage, sea battle High Altitude Air Blast: fireball > 100,000 ft (>3000m) interrupts satellite based communication through electromagnetic pulse (EMP) Surface Tests Operation Sandstone Up to 1948, all four Plutonium bombs (Trinity, Fat Man, and the two Crossroad tests ) had been identical, based on a conservative wartime design. The Sandstone test series introduced a second generation of weapon design by evaluating several new design principles. All three shots were performed on a 200ft tower level. The original Fat Man design used a solid plutonium core, surrounded by a natural uranium tamper. The Sandstone devices had a gap between tamper and core to achieve a more efficient compression of the core. They apparently retained a solid core however. The pure plutonium core was replaced by Pu-U alloy enriched in 235U. Three tests, X-Ray, Yoke, and Zebra used differently designed cores and tampers of varying thickness. Efficiency: Operation Sandstone Operation Greenhouse The Greenhouse Test Series was conducted at Enewetok Atoll in April and May of 1951. It consisted of four high yield tests - Dog, Easy , George, & Item performed on a 300ft tower altitude. Dog and Easy were proof tests of two new strategic bombs the Mk 6 and Mk 5, respectively. George & Item were the first tests of thermonuclear fusion, testing the principle of "fusion boosting", using a thermonuclear fusion reaction to inject neutrons into a fission core to boost the efficiency for fission. George 10ms George 20ms George 30ms Damage :Operation Greenhouse 10 ms Model 20 ms 30 ms 225 kT GEORGE test Operation Greenhouse Nevada Test Site Operation Plumbbob Operation Plumbbob was conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) from May through October of 1957. It consisted of 29 tests. This series addressed several objectives, including tactical weapon proof tests, safety tests, and component and mockup testing for thermonuclear systems. The tests were performed at surface and low altitude levels. One important test component were military exercises involving 16,000 DOD personnel called Desert Rock VII and VIII. Hood was the largest atmospheric test ever conducted at the Nevada site. The test was performed at 1500 feet altitude. Hood was a two-stage thermonuclear device with a predicted yield of 60-80 kt. About 7 kt of the overall yield was from fusion. The test also included troop maneuvers by 2500 Marines, and air operations by 124 aircraft. Medical and Military tests: Operation Plumbbob Test Rainier Early underground test, at depth level of ~900ft In a tunnel excavated underneath Rainier Mesa The extreme heat and pressure of an underground nuclear explosion vaporizes the surrounding rock, forming a cavity. Further away, there are zones of crushed, cracked, and irreversibly strained rock. Cavity collapses forming a crater at surface Test Name Time and Date (GMT) Location Test Type Height (Ft) Yield - Actual (Predicted) Sponsor Purpose Comments Boltzmann 11:55 28-May-57 NTS, Area 7c Tower 500 12 kt (11 kt) LASL WD XW-40 boosted fission warhead test Fizzle, XW-30? boosted all-oralloy fission Franklin 11:55 2-Jun-57 NTS, Area 3 Tower 300 140 Tons (2 kt) LASL WD warhead test Lassen 11:45 5-Jun-57 NTS, Area 9a Balloon 500 0.5 Tons (600 Tons) UCRL WD Fizzle, unboosted all-oralloy small weapon design Wilson 11:45 18-Jun-57 NTS, Area 9a Balloon 500 10 kt (8 kt, 2-12 kt) UCRL WD XW-45X1 Swan test, gas-boosted composite pit Mk-15/39 primary, stockpiled device of known Priscilla 13:30 24-Jun-57 NTS, Area 5 Balloon 700 37 kt (40 kt) LASL/DOD WE yield Coulomb-A 17:30 1-Jul-57 NTS, Area 3h Surface 0 Zero (1-2 Lb) LASL ST XW-31 1-point safety test Largest atmospheric test at NTS, 2-stage Hood 11:40.00.4 5-Jul-57 NTS, Area 9a Balloon 1500 74 kt (60-80 kt) UCRL WD thermonuclear device Diablo 11:30.00.1 15-Jul-57 NTS, Area 2b Tower 500 17 kt (11-15 kt) UCRL WD 2-stage device, some thermonuclear yield John 14:00 19-Jul-57 NTS, Area 10 Rocket 18,500 1.7 kt (1.7 kt) DOD WE W-25 warhead for Genie air-to-air missile XW-35 ICBM warhead development, primary in Kepler 11:50 24-Jul-57 NTS, Area 4 Tower 500 10 kt (11 kt) LASL WD thermonuclear mockup Very small boosted plutonium device, XW-51 Owens 13:30 25-Jul-57 NTS, Area 9b Balloon 500 9.7 kt (2-10 kt) UCRL WD progenitor Listed as "slight", about 55 tons Pascal-A 8:00 26-Jul-57 NTS, Area 3j Shaft -485 LASL ST 1-point safety test (predicted 1-2 Lb) Stokes 12:25 7-Aug-57 NTS, Area 7b Balloon 1500 19 kt (10-20 kt) LASL WD XW-30 test, all oralloy gas-boosted system 1-point safety test of XW-45X1, oralloy-Pu Saturn 1:00 10-Aug-57 NTS, Area 12c Tunnel -100 Zero (100 Lb) UCRL ST composite core filled with helium; first shot fired in Ranier Mesa tunnel Nearly identical to Diablo, DT gas boosted Swan Shasta 12:00 18-Aug-57 NTS, Area 2a Tower 500 17 kt (11-15 kt) UCRL WD primary Gas boosted implosion device, possible XW-34 Doppler 12:30 23-Aug-57 NTS, Area 7 Balloon 1500 11 kt (-) LASL WD test 1-point test for upper limits of safety, similar to Pascal-B 22:35 27-Aug-57 NTS, Area 3c Shaft -500 0.3 kt (1-2 Lb) LASL ST Pascal-A Franklin Prime 12:40 30-Aug-57 NTS, Area 7b Balloon 750 4.7 kt (2 kt) LASL WD Retest of Franklin with more U-235 added to core Smoky 12:30.00.1 31-Aug-57 NTS, Area 8 Tower 700 44 kt (45-50 kt) UCRL WD TX-41 2-stage device, some thermonuclear yield Galileo 12:40 2-Sep-57 NTS, Area 1 Tower 500 11 kt (-) LASL WD Boosted fission device, exploratory test Retest of redesigned Lassen device, possible Wheeler 12:45 6-Sep-57 NTS, Area 9a Balloon 500 197 Tons (200 Tons) UCRL WD XW-51 air-to-air warhead progenitor 1-point test for upper limits of safety, similar to Coulomb-B 20:50 6-Sep-57 NTS, Area 3g Surface 0 0.3 kt (1-2 Lb, 20 Tons max) LASL ST Coulomb-A, all-oralloy gas boosted Laplace 13:00 8-Sep-57 NTS, Area 7b Balloon 750 1 kt (1.5-2 kt) LASL WD Fleegle device: all-oralloy gun-type weapon Fizeau 16:45 14-Sep-57 NTS, Area 3b Tower 500 11 kt (8-10 kt) LASL WD XW-34 test, boosted fission device Test of XW-31 variant, boosted primary in Newton 12:50 16-Sep-57 NTS, Area 7b Balloon 1500 12 kt (50-70 kt) LASL WD thermonuclear system mockup Deep underground test shot, modified W-25 Rainier 16:59.59.5 19-Sep-57 NTS, Area 12 Tunnel -899 1.7 kt (-) UCRL WE warhead Test of boosted Swan primary in W-27 Whitney 12:30 23-Sep-57 NTS, Area 2 Tower 500 19 kt (15 kt) UCRL WD thermonuclear system mockup Clean tactical 2-stage thermonuclear device, 2nd Charleston 13:00 28-Sep-57 NTS, Area 9 Balloon 1500 12 kt (less than 50-100 kt) UCRL WD stage failed to fire XW-45X1 test, boosted Swan primary and Morgan 13:00 7-Oct-57 NTS, Area 9 Balloon 500 8 kt (2-10 kt) UCRL WD Flamingo secondary Operation Upshot-Knothole 1953 This operation took place in 1953 at the Nevada Test Site.