My Favorite Nuclear Test

[fastpat]

We all have favorite's of most everything, so this is to add to the list in an area that few venture.

Resource: http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/index.html

Mine is Operation Castle, specifically Castle Bravo. This one was one of the most spectacular in that it's predicted yield was 6 megatons, with a range of 4 to 8 megatons, and actually yielded 15 megatons. I feel certain that it was one of those, "Holy *****, that was big" kind of moments.


Do you think the US government should return to testing, firing off an air burst every 4th of July?

[Joeaksa]

You might want to test it in Travelers Rest just to see how it goes, then make this recomendation to the DOD....

[mjohnson]

Gotta be the one and only test of the atomic cannon. In the movie, you see the shot then the blast and mushroom cloud downrange.

I'm guessing Germany is glad we never used those...

(Oh - yes we should pop one off every so often, just so the world leaders with their fingers on the button realize what they're dealing with)

(plus, I just want to see one from a safe distance)

mike
'78SC

[djmcmath]

I must admit I'm a little surprised, FastPat. I would have expected Fintstone or Joe to have started a pro-nuclear weaponry thread, instead of you.

That said, I think it's a great idea to test the warheads from time to time as well. We do annual tests of all of the delivery systems -- TLAM-N and Trident, at least. The thing is that a lot of the warheads have to be reaching their "Best If Used By" date, so it's making less and less sense to keep storing them. Or at least, that's one argument. I'll admit that the thought of making really huge explosions is a little motivating to me.

[Tervuren]

I don't dissaprove of nuclear weapons - but I'm glad we aren't testing anymore. They throw a lot of junk all over. I'm glad they aren't testing anymore.

Tsar Bomba, I've never seen any tape - but set a fusion and fission bomb combined - I'd not want to be on the receiving end!

[bigrubberjeep]

I don't know much about nuke's but is there a difference between a Nuke and a hydrogen bomb? or are they all called "Nuke's"?

(I know there is a difference in bombs, my question is in relation to the name)

[beepbeep]

Well Russians tested 100MT design with one part of it's fussion fodder replaced with lead , yielding 50MT. It was quite clean as well, as majority of bang came from fussion (=less fallout).

But frankly, blowing up things in megatone class is quite meaningless. You destroy and irradiate a sizable portion of real estate. India, Pakistan, France etc. allready have the nukes so there is no point in showing off either. Especially considering that Russians have stockpile that is greater than USA.

I would rather see better tracking of eventual orphaned warheads from formed Sovjet Union that might fall in terrorist hands.

[TheMentat]

artillery nuke:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAxAvkQ4tXk&search=nuclear%20artillery

[sammyg2]

Fission is the splitting of uranium isotope atoms (generally refered to as nuclear bomb or a-bomb), fusion is the joining of hydrogen isotope atoms (generally refered to an a hydrogen bomb.

As far as using a fusion and fission bomb together? Some hydrogen bombs use uranium bombs as a trigger. It's been done.
The pressure of the fusion bomb squazes the hydrogen isotope atoms until they basically meld together to form helium, and give off a little bit of energy in the process

As far as testing goes, I don't want that radioactive crap in my atmosphere.
Underground I can deal with, but not in the air.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Scary stuff...

-Wayne

You are so right, Wayne. That's the reason I posted this, to reacquaint people with the destructive power, and the real danger posed by nuclear weapons.

Castle Bravo
Test: Bravo
Time: 18:45:00.0 28 February 1954 (GMT)
06:45:00.0 1 March 1954 (local)
Location: Artificial island on reef 2950 ft off Nam ("Charlie") Island, Bikini Atoll
Test Height and Type: Surface burst (7 feet above surface)
Yield: 15 Mt

The Shrimp device tested in Bravo was a 15 Mt two stage thermonuclear surface burst. This was the first "dry" or solid fuel (lithium deuteride fueled) H-Bomb tested by the U.S., and the first solid fuel Teller-Ulam device ever tested. It was the largest bomb ever tested by the U.S. although this was by accident. The yield of Bravo dramatically exceeded predictions, being about 2.5 times higher than the best guess and almost double the estimated maximum possible yield (6 Mt predicted, estimated yield range 4-8 Mt).

The Shrimp test device was basically a scaled down version of the Runt device tested in Castle Romeo, but with partially enriched lithium as fuel. Its weight was a comparatively light 23,500 lb, and it was 179.5 in long and 53.9 in wide. The fuel consisted of 37-40% enriched lithium-6 deuteride encased in a natural uranium tamper. 10 Mt of the yield was from fast fission of the tamper. The Shrimp also tested light case design, substituting an aluminium exterior case for the steel used in the Sausage (tested in Ivy Mike). It used a RACER IV fusion boosted primary.

The reason for the unexpectedly high yield was due to the "tritium bonus" provided by the lithium-7 isotope which made up most of the lithium. This isotope was expected to be essentially inert, but in fact it had a substantial reaction cross section with the high energy neutrons produced by tritium-deuterium fusion. When one of these high energy neutrons collided with a lithium-7 atom, it could fragement it into a tritium and a helium atom. Tritium was the most valuable fusion fuel, being both highly reactive and causing extremely energetic fusion, so this extra source of tritium greatly increased the weapon yield.

The Bravo crater in the atoll reef had a diameter of 6510 ft, with a depth of 250 ft. Within one minute the mushroom cloud had reached 50,000 feet (15 km), breaking 100,000 feet (30 km) two minutes later. The cloud top rose and peaked at 130,000 feet (almost 40 km) after only six minutes. Eight minutes after the test the cloud had reached its full dimensions with a diameter of 100 km, a stem 7 km thick, and a cloud bottom rising above 55,000 feet (16.5 km).

The Bravo test created the worst radiological disaster in US history. Due to failures in forecasting and analyzing weather patterns, failure to postpone the test following unfavorable changes in the weather, and combined with the unexpectedly high yield and the failure to conduct pre-test evacuations as a precaution, the Marshallese Islanders on Rongelap, Ailinginae, and Utirik atolls were blanketed with the fallout plume, as were U.S. servicemen stationed on Rongerik.

Within 15 minutes after the test radiation levels began climbing on Eneu Island, site of the test control bunker, which was supposed to be upwind from the test and thus immune to fallout. An hour after the shot the level had reached 40 R/hr, and personnel had to retreat from the control room to the most heavily shielded room of the bunker until they could be rescued 11 hours later.

An hour after the shot Navy ships 30 miles south of Bikini found themselves being dusted with fallout with deck radiation levels rising to 5 R/hr. navy personnel were forced to retreat below decks and the ships retreated farther from the atoll.

As the fallout drifted east U.S. evacuation efforts lagged behind the plume. At Rongerik, 133 nm from ground zero, 28 U.S. personnel manning a weather station were evacuated on 2 March but not before receiving significant exposures. Evacuations of the 154 Marshallese Islanders only 100 nm from the shot did not begin until the morning of 3 March. Radiation safety personnel computed that the islanders received a whole-body radiation doses of 175 rad on Rongelap, 69 rad on Ailinginae, and 14 rad on Utirik.

The Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Fifth Lucky Dragon) was also heavily contaminated, with the 23 crewmen receiving exposures of 300 R, one of whom later died - apparently from complications. This incident created an international uproar, and a diplomatic crisis with Japan.

The entire Bikini Atoll was contaminated to varying degrees and plans for conducting test operations from the islands, including use of the firing bunker, had to be abandoned. All further Castle tests were controlled by radio link from the USS Estes.

After this test the exclusion zone around the Castle tests was increased to 570,000 square miles, a circle 850 miles across (for comparison this is equal to about 1% of the entire Earth's land area).

The test I posted initially was a radiologic disaster of the first order, endangering thousands through rank government carelessness.

There are those in the Bush'ist government, and the supporters thereof, who think nothing of threatening nuclear fire on any country that refuses to kowtow to Washington, D.C., the latest being North Korea over the last few days.

Everyone should read about each of the test series conducted during the 1950's, and look at each picture, again and again.

[Howard Agency]

Way back when...Got a note from Ft Sill that they were having a class to teach the care and handling of the 105mm 'tactical' nuclear round. Class was required for next promotion.

Uh, 105mm howitzer has a range of 11,500 meters. Never did get that promotion

[ronin]

Originally posted by djmcmath
I must admit I'm a little surprised, FastPat. I would have expected Fintstone or Joe to have started a pro-nuclear weaponry thread, instead of you.

there's a little realist in all of us

[ronin]

Originally posted by Howard Agency
Way back when...Got a note from Ft Sill that they were having a class to teach the care and handling of the 105mm 'tactical' nuclear round. Class was required for next promotion.

Uh, 105mm howitzer has a range of 11,500 meters. Never did get that promotion

hehehe. we used to teach those classes. 155mm though, not on the 105

[charleskieffner]

have to admit i had clearance to go in project mercury/los alamos/sandia labs/white sands missle range. what a blast !!! excuse the pun! LOL! if it went BOOM BANG or MEGA KA-BOOM our tooling was involved in some component. we didnt mfg. entire weapon. we did do parts for nuclear bomb triggers, missles,torpedos AMRAMS SCRAMS HARPOONS STINGERS TOMAHAWKS PATRIOTS ICBM's etc. fuel cells, flap actuators , nose cones etc. best time of my life! with exception of machining radiated parts and signing govt DOD DOE document that i would not sue them if radiated!


if i have a chance in this lifetime i will go diving on as many of the ships that were sunk during this testing period. atoll has only been open about 7 yrs now for civilian divers. numerous battleships cruisers the uss saratoga, a u.s. sub. and the heavy german cruiser prinz eugen! unreal diving and still radiated at low levels acceptable to exposure.

also went to trinity site.............the most humbling thing i have done in my life! for on that july day in the new mexico dez the world changed FOREVER! trinity is still giving off rems!


bottom line is ......................PEACE THRU SUPERIOR FIREPOWER! and yes all weapons have a shelf life!

[BertBeagle]

charleskieffner, I am sure that was humbling. For me a similar experience was a dawn visit to the Peace Park in Hiroshima - ground zero. It was a winter day and raining. I spent several hours there in the rain and I can honestly say it did make a positive difference in my life.

I spent several day there and the last evening in a small bar near ground zero. The bar was owned by the same family who ran it when the bomb dropped. Somehow it survived along with the owners and I spent that night, long after the bar closed, talking with the owner, his wife and their daughter (my age and the only one of the three who spoke English). We had a great time with photo albums, libations, etc. It was the best part of my trip there in 1980.

Ashley Page

[Eric 951]

[

The test I posted initially was a radiologic disaster of the first order, endangering thousands through rank government carelessness.

[/B][/QUOTE]

So your favorite nuke test is any that endangers civilians or highlights government failure. you are one strange bird.

[charleskieffner]

my feelings on this subject are really mixed. my dad was slated for the invasion of mainland japan in 1945. they all knew what house to house street to street fighting and kamakaze's were all about. he and others went nuts with joy when fat boy and little man were dropped and japan capitulated unconditionally.

as the nuke race escalated w/russia after WWII and a number of our scientists were spys and valuable secrets were gathered by russia, that i feel was our first really bad move. but i also feel that sooner or later russia was to have the bomb also. if the U.S. was the only holder of the bomb we would no doubt back then become the worlds police force. we became that without really wanting that position.

since other countries good and bad now have the capability's to deliver a nuke, the world in some ways is a more dangerous place than post world war II. but with what i saw and experienced it is comforting to know we are literally at the cutting edge of technology, way beyond any other country in this world. hence my statement PEACE THRU SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!

but from my own experiences and what i saw, i am scared to death of radiation.............you cant see it...........PERIOD! when the accident in chernobyl occurred, it only took 3 days for radiation to show up in the milk in dairy cows here in gilbert, arizona. 3-days and radiation had circumnavigated the globe! and like anything else, accidents happen.

having 2 kids makes you think real hard about where the world is going somedays when it comes to nuke technology. but like the previous post mentioned, we are light years ahead of any other country when it comes to nuke delivery systems and anti-missile technology. its comforting to know that we will never use nukes first. that is the WAY it is. but if some rogue nation decides to send one our way, it will literally be the last thing they ever do!

when visiting project mercury, all i can say is it is the biggest gopher farm i have ever seen in my life! the holes that remain from different tests are beyond size description! i cannot even begin to describe the size. but i can say this.........if you fell in one you would be dead, they are that deep. we have come a long way in learning about the power of the atom and it took these tests to get where we are at today. i would love to know how many other people on this board have EVER EXPERIENCED what i saw at mercury. it really is beyond all sights i have ever seen in my 48yrs on this planet. i can only imagine what bimini atoll looks like. and since i am 31 year experienced certified diver i hope some day to see what the end result of the alpha bravo tests were all about.

if anyone ever gets to albuquerque, new mexico a must see is right at kirtland AFB. the atomic weapons museum. a must see museum. dont miss it! you will walk away with the same feelings i had from mercury and trinity sites. once again after seeing the power of the atom it is comforting to know im on the side that will be the last to send a nuke in anger first. if you had to make the decision Truman had..............i think all of us back then would have made the same decision. an invasion of mainland japan, or possible surrender after only dropping 2 bombs. it really is a no brainer. the world has seen its ugly power twice............and from that everyone knows who has the BIG WHUPP ASS STICK!