Upshot-Knothole Annie

Upshot-Knothole Annie
Information
Country	United States
Test series	Operation Upshot-Knothole
Test site	Nevada Test Site
Date	March 17, 1953
Test type	Atmospheric
Yield	16 kt

Upshot-Knothole Annie was a nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. It took place at the Nevada Test Site on 17 March, 1953, and was nationally televised.^[1]

A car toppled by the Annie nuclear blast.

Operation Doorstep was a civil defense study conducted by the Federal Civil Defense Administration in conjunction with Annie. It studied the effect of the nuclear blast on two wooden frame houses, fifty automobiles and eight bomb shelters designed for residential use.

The administration concluded that if windows were left open to prevent the car collapsing on its occupants a car would be "relatively safe" from a small nuclear bomb if at least ten blocks away from the hypocenter. The homes in the study were constructed in such a way as to minimize the thermal effects of Annie, with an eye towards determining if, in the absence of fire, the basement of the closer home — 3,500 feet (1,100 m) from the hypocenter — might shelter its occupants, while the second — at 7,500 feet (2,300 m) — could remain standing.^[2] Both homes performed as expected under the conditions of their construction.

References

1. ^ Eden, Lynn (2004). Whole world on fire: organizations, knowledge, and nuclear weapons devastation. Cornell University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780801435782. http://books.google.com/books?id=yDk5hfkyISUC&pg=PA166. Retrieved 29 March 2011. 
2. ^ Eden (2004), pp. 166-167.