- Operation Crosstie
-
Operation Crosstie 
Crosstie Buggy.Information Country 
United StatesTest site 1 test Farmington, NM; 1 test Central NV; remainder Nevada Test Site Period 1967-1968 Number of tests 48 Test type Underground Navigation Previous test Latchkey Next test Bowline Operation Crosstie[1] was a series of 48 nuclear tests mostly conducted in Nevada during 1967 and 1968. These tests followed the Latchkey series and preceded Bowline.
The blast designated Gasbuggy involved an underground detonation, intended to stimulate production of natural gas by cracking the rock in the underground formation of its deposit. The test was a double-failure, as not only the production did not increase as much as expected, but the customers also refused to buy gas contaminated with traces of radioisotopes. However, the detonation happened mostly as desired.
Buggy was a Plowshare test designed to excavate a channel. It was a simultaneous detonation of 5 devices, placed 150 feet (46 m) apart and 150 feet (46 m) below the surface that resulted in a channel 300 feet (91 m) wide, 900 feet long, and 80 feet (24 m) deep .[2]
The Faultless test was a "calibration test" conducted in a mine cavity 3,200 feet beneath the Hot Creek Valley near Tonopah, Nevada, with a yield of around 1 megatons. This test was conducted to see if the land was fit for testing a 5 megaton thermonuclear warhead for the Spartan Missile,[3] however the "calibration test" failed and was sardonically named Faultless, because of the large degree of faulting that could be seen in the roads and highways throughout the region following the test. As a result of this failed test, it was decided that the land was unfit for multimegaton nuclear tests, so a calibration test was conducted at Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the fall of 1969 during Operation Mandrel.
The individual tests of this series were:
Name Date Size VITO July 14 < 20 kilotons STANLEY July 27 20 to 200 kilotons GIBSON August 4 < 20 kilotons WASHER August 10 < 20 kilotons BORDEAUX August 18 < 20 kilotons LEXINGTON August 24 < 20 kilotons DOOR MIST August 31 < 20 kilotons YARD September 7 20 to 200 kilotons GILROY September 15 < 20 kilotons MARVEL September 21 2.2 kilotons ZAZA September 27 20 to 200 kilotons LANPHER October 18 20 to 200 kilotons COGNAC October 25 < 20 kilotons SAZERAC October 25 < 20 kilotons WORTH October 25 < 20 kilotons COBBLER November 8 < 20 kilotons POLKA December 6 < 20 kilotons GASBUGGY December 10 29 kilotons STILT December 15 < 20 kilotons HUPMOBILE January 18 7.4 kilotons STACCATO January 19 20 to 200 kilotons FAULTLESS (Hot Creek Valley, Nevada) January 19 < 1 megaton BRUSH January 24 < 20 kilotons CABRIOLET January 26 2.3 kilotons MALLET January 31 < 20 kilotons KNOX February 21 20 to 200 kilotons TORCH February 21 < 20 kilotons DORSAL FIN February 29 < 20 kilotons RUSSET March 5 < 20 kilotons BUGGY A, B, C, D, E March 12 5×1.08 kilotons POMMARD March 14 1.5 kilotons STINGER March 22 20 to 200 kilotons MILK SHAKE March 25 < 20 kilotons BEVEL April 4 < 20 kilotons NOOR, THROW April 10 < 20 kilotons SHUFFLE April 18 20 to 200 kilotons SCROLL April 23 < 20 kilotons BOXCAR April 26 1.3 Megatons HATCHET May 3 < 20 kilotons CROCK May 8 < 20 kilotons CLARKSMOBILE May 17 20 to 200 kilotons ADZE May 28 < 20 kilotons WEMBLEY June 5 < 20 kilotons TUB A, B, C, D, F June 6 5 < 20 kilotons RICKEY June 15 20 to 200 kilotons FUNNEL June 25 < 20 kilotons SEVILLA June 25 < 20 kilotons CHATEAUGAY June 28 20 to 200 kilotons References
- ^ http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf
- ^ Byrne, John; Rich, Daniel (1986). The Politics of Energy Research and Development, Energy Policy Studies, Volume 3. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9780887386534. http://books.google.com/books?id=y3YR4jWyAPQC&pg=PA7&cad=0_0#PPA52,M1.
- ^ latimes... and to placate Howard Hughes
Categories:- American nuclear explosive tests
- Nevada Test Site
- 1967 in the United States
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