Nuclear Explosions

Project Crossroads was a series of two nuclear tests, Able and Baker, the first tests conducted at the Pacific Proving Ground, near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These were the fourth and fifth nuclear detonations in history, following the Trinity test in July 1945 and the two weapons dropped on Japan to end World War II. The two bombs used in Crossroads were of the Fat Man configuration, very similar to the implosion-type weapons tested at Trinity and dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. It had a plutonium pit. The only other nuclear weapon available at the time was the uranium gun-type Little Boy, which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The Fat Man was a more complex weapon than Little Boy, thus needing more testing to gain experimental data. On July 24, 1946, the Baker shot was set off in the Bikini lagoon at a depth of about 90 feet with a yield of 21 kilotons. Two million tons of water were contained in the eruption and two million yards of sediment were removed from the lagoon floor. Nine ships were sunk.

Atomic Weapons Tests: TRINITY through BUSTER-JANGLE This was a broad overview report to carefully qualified members of secret oversight committees of U.S. Congress, as well as a collective archive of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. This film was declassified in 1997 after careful sanitization by experts to edit out secrets sensitive to technical information protected by the U.S. Department of Energy -- the successor to the Atomic Energy Commission -- and the U.S. Department of Defense. Atomic Weapons Tests Trinity through Buster Jangle Vintage Atomic Bomb Film

The 280mm Atomic Cannon - Nuclear Artillery Test 1953 The cannon was transported by two specially designed tractors, both capable of independent steering in the manner of some extra-long fire engines. Each of the tractors was rated at 375 hp, and the somewhat awkward combination could achieve speeds of 35 miles an hour and negotiate right turns on 28 ft wide, paved or packed roads. The artillery piece could be unlimbered in 15 minutes and then returned to traveling configuration in 15 minutes more. On May 25, 1953 at 8:30am local time, the Atomic Cannon was tested at Nevada Test Site (specifically Frenchman Flat) as part of the Upshot-Knothole series of nuclear tests.

Tesla 7 kiloton shot - Operation Teapot (March 1st, 1955) Operation Teapot was a series of fourteen nuclear test explosions conducted at the Nevada Test Site in the first half of 1955. It was preceded by Operation Castle, and followed by Operation Wigwam

Operation Castle Nuclear Test Report (1954

NUTMEG - 25.1 kiloton - Operation Hardtack 1 (May 21, 1958)

Operation Hardtack 1 Juniper 53070. 65 Kt on a barge from 12 feet altitude. July 22 1958 Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength. Many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status through a nuclear test

On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test (First Lightning, based on the American "Fat Man" design) at the Semipalatinsk-21 in Kazakhstan. Stalin alongside Soviet political officials and scientists were elated at the successful test.

Underwater Wahoo atomic bomb explosion of 1958

Information Country United States Test series Operation Castle Test site Bikini Atoll Date May 5, 1954 Test type Atmospheric Yield 13.5 Mt