How the underground nuclear tests took place

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Nuclear weapons can be used in any environment. On November 6, 1971, on one of the Aleutian Islands, the United States conducted a series of underground nuclear explosions: the preparation of seismic weapons was in full swing.

The 5-megaton Cannikin thermonuclear charge was laid at a depth of one hundred meters. The explosion results were more than impressive. An earthquake with a magnitude of almost 7 began immediately.

The soil rose to a height of five meters, the coastline collapsed all over the island, that is, the impact fell on an area of 309 kilometers.

Other, no less striking tests were carried out, for example, an underwater nuclear explosion looks completely different.

On July 25, 1946, the United States realized the first underwater atomic explosion. The 23 kiloton Baker device was placed 27 meters deep to see how nuclear explosions would affect ships. The tests were so successful that the next decade America conducted similar experiments more than once, but the data, especially the video recordings, were classified.

More recently, physicist Greg Spriggs of the US Department of Energy's Ernest Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory posted an archived record of a later nuclear submarine explosion conducted as part of Operation Hardtrack I on May 21, 1958, at the Pacific Proving Grounds.

Among others, the underwater nuclear explosion marked Umbrella stands out. For the tests, an Mk-7 bomb with a capacity of 8 kilotons was used. located at a relatively shallow depth.

Decommissioned ships, including several Japanese cruisers, were used as targets. The wave height reached 30 meters. The target ships were partially destroyed, while the rest received radioactive contamination up to 8000 roentgens. It was not possible to neutralize it.

see also: Videos of nuclear weapons testing in the US declassified