- Operation Ivy
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For the ska punk band, see Operation Ivy (band).
Operation Ivy
Ivy MikeInformation 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
- Curtiss Atomic Marines
- Operation Ivy
- Analysis of Radiation Exposure for Navy Personnel at Operation Ivy
- Internet Archive: Operation Ivy (1952) — film about Operation Ivy created by the US Air Force
Nuclear weapons tests of the United States Operations Anvil · Aqueduct · Arbor · Argus · Bedrock · Bowline · Buster-Jangle · Castle · Chariot · Charioteer · Cornerstone · Cresset · Crossroads · Crosstie · Dominic · Emery · Fishbowl · Flintlock · Fulcrum · Fusileer · Greenhouse · Grenadier · Grommet · Guardian · Hardtack I · Hardtack II · Ivy · Julin · Latchkey · Little Feller · Mandrel · Musketeer · Niblick · Nougat · Phalanx · Plowshare · Plumbbob · Praetorian · Project 56 · Project 57 · Project 58 · Project 58A · Quicksilver · Ranger · Redwing · Roller Coaster · Sandstone · Sculpin · Storax · Sunbeam · Teapot · Tinderbox · Toggle · Touchstone · Trinity · Tumbler-Snapper · Upshot-Knothole · Whetstone · Wigwam
Testing areas Area 1 · Area 2 · Area 3 · Area 4 · Area 5 · Area 6 · Area 7 · Area 8 · Area 9 · Area 10 · Area 11 · Area 12 · Area 15 · Area 16 · Area 18 · Area 19 · Area 20 · Area 30 · Frenchman Flat · Pahute Mesa · Yucca Flat ·
OtherAmchitka · Bikini Atoll · Gasbuggy · Gnome · Pacific Proving Grounds · Rio Blanco · Rulison · Salmon Site
Related topics Atomic Testing Museum · Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy · Alvin C. Graves · Chuck Hansen · Corbin Harney · Human experimentation in the United States · Nevada Desert Experience · Nuclear weapons testing · Radiation Exposure Compensation Act · Radio Bikini · Reactor grade plutonium nuclear test · Vela Uniform
List of nuclear weapons tests of the United StatesCategories:- American nuclear explosive tests
- 1952 in the United States
- Enewetak Atoll
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