Operation Ivy

Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy
IvyMike2.jpg
Ivy Mike
Information
Country United States
Test site Pacific Proving Grounds
Period November 1952
Number of tests 2
Test type Atmospheric tests
Device type Thermonuclear (Mike)
Fission (King)
Max. yield 10.4 Mt
Navigation
Previous test Operation Tumbler-Snapper
Next test Operation Upshot-Knothole

Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. Its purpose was to help upgrade the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons in response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall Islands.

The first Ivy shot, Mike, was the first successful full-scale test of a multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon ("hydrogen bomb") using the Teller-Ulam design. Unlike later thermonuclear weapons, Mike used deuterium as its fusion fuel, maintained as a liquid by an expensive and cumbersome cryogenic system. It was detonated on Elugelab Island yielding 10.4 megatons, almost 500 times the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. 8 megatons of the yield was from fast fission of the uranium tamper, creating massive amounts of radioactive fallout. The detonation left an underwater crater 6,240 ft (1.9 km) wide and 164 ft (50 m) deep where Elugelab Island had been. Following this successful test, the Mike design was weaponized as either the EC-16 or TX-16, but it was quickly abandoned for solid-fueled designs after the success of the Castle Bravo shot.

The second test, King, fired the largest nuclear weapon to date using only nuclear fission (no fusion nor fusion boosting). This "Super Oralloy Bomb" was intended as a backup if the fusion weapon failed. King yielded 500 kilotons, 25-40 times more than the nuclear weapons dropped during World War II.

Jimmy P. Robinson,[1] a USAF captain, was lost while piloting his F-84G through the mushroom cloud to collect air samples; he ran out of fuel and attempted to land on water but was never found.[2]

Ivy test blasts
Test name Date Location Yield Note
Mike 1 November 1952 Elugelab Island, Eniwetok 10.4 - 12 megatons First hydrogen bomb
King 16 November 1952 Airburst 2,000 feet North of Runit Island, Eniwetok 500 kilotons Largest pure-fission bomb up to that time

See also

References

  • Chuck Hansen, U. S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (Arlington: AeroFax, 1988)

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Operation Ivy — en concert Operation Ivy est un groupe de ska punk. Leur nom provient de la série de tests nucléaires effectués par les États Unis en 1952 dans les îles Marshall. Le groupe a été formé en 1987 à San Francisco par Lint et Matt, deux amis d enfance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Operation Ivy — Datos generales Origen Berkeley, California, Estados Unidos …   Wikipedia Español

  • Operation Ivy — В этой статье не хватает ссылок на источники информации. Информация должна быть проверяема, иначе она может быть поставлена под сомнение и удалена. Вы можете …   Википедия

  • Operation Ivy — Als Operation Ivy bezeichnet man die amerikanischen Atomtests um 1950, siehe Operation Ivy (Atomtest) eine Ska Band, siehe Operation Ivy (Band) Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort be …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy (band) — Operation Ivy Operation Ivy performing live at 924 Gilman Street in 1988 Background information Origin Berkeley, California …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy Blizzard — Date 17 December 2003 Location Samarra Result resulted in the capture of 12 personnel and the confiscation of various weapons …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy Bells — was a joint United States Navy, CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) mission whose objective was to place wire taps on Soviet underwater communication lines during the Cold War. Contents 1 History 2 Cover story and success 3 …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy (Band) — Operation Ivy Allgemeine Informationen Genre(s) Ska Punk / Hardcore Punk Gründung 1987 Auflösung 1989 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy (Atomtest) — Kernwaffentest Operation Ivy Atomtest Ivy Mike Informationen Nation Vereinigte Staaten   …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Operation Ivy — test detonation of the first hydrogen bomb in 1952 …   English contemporary dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”