Nuclear Pictures

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Operation Ivy
1952 - Enewetak Atoll
From early 1951 onward, these two parallel efforts to develop high yield weapons were focused on a Pacific Proving Ground test series for late in 1952. This series - Operation Ivy - exploded the two largest bombs tested up to that time. It inaugurated the thermonuclear age with the first "true" thermonuclear test (code name Mike), which was considerably more powerful than all the high explosives used in two World Wars put together. Ivy also tested the highest yield pure fission weapon ever exploded.

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Operation Upshot-Knothole
1953 - Nevada Test Site
Efforts to prepare the U.S. military for atomic combat continued with proof-tests of a number of new tactical weapons, including the first nuclear artillery shell. The tests provided additional experience and information for planning atomic combat operations. Important information was also obtained for civil defense efforts.

And critically important - Upshot-Knothole also tested the radiation implosion systems for the world's first deployable thermonuclear weapons which would be proof-tested in Operation Castle the following year.

An estimated 18,000 DOD personnel participated in observer programs, tactical maneuvers, scientific studies, and support activities. Members of all four armed services participated in Exercise Desert Rock V.

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Operation Castle
1954 - Enewetak Atoll
Operation Castle was a series of high yield thermonuclear weapon design tests. Following the initial experimental demonstration of the Teller-Ulam principles in Operation Ivy (the Sausage device detonated in the Ivy Mike test) both weapon labs rushed to develop a number of deliverable weaponized designs. The original schedule included a weaponized version of the cryogenic fuel system used in Sausage (designated the EC-16, the test device being named JUGHEAD); plus a variety of other extensions and new concepts. One of these new approaches - the use of non-cryogenic "dry" (lithium deuteride) fuel - was a spectacular (and disastrous) success with a yield far exceeding expectations. Some of the other tests were also much larger than expected - in fact the three largest tests ever carried out by the U.S. were all part of Operation Castle.

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Operation Teapot
1955 - Nevada Test Site
This series of fourteen shots proof tested a broad variety of fission devices with low to moderate yields. As a group these devices combined several innovations - some previously tested, some introduced during this test series - to create a new pattern of fission device that would dominate the design of all later weapons. These devices used new compact, efficient, light weight spherical implosion systems; beryllium tampers; hollow cores; deuterium-tritium boosting; and the use of neutron pulse tubes as initiators to create light, compact, efficient, and reliable fission explosive systems.

These devices were tested for a broad variety of tactical weapon applications, including air defense (AD) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Several new primaries were tested for a new generation of lighter and more compact (Class "D") thermonuclear weapons to be fired in 1956 during Operation Redwing.

UCRL (University of California Radiation Laboratory, now the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - LLNL) had its first successful test shots after two and a half years of trying. UCRL demonstrated linear implosion - a non-lensed implosion approach used in artillery shells and other applications where very small diameter systems are required.

Approximately 8,000 DOD personnel participated in the Desert Rock VI exercise which was intended to familiarize troops with the capabilities of nuclear weapons, and the conditions of atomic combat.

LANL test shots were named after flying insects, fruits, and vegetables. UCRL test shots were named after inventors and San Francisco streets. DOD shot names were abbreviations or abbreviation mnemonics.

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Operation Redwing
1956 - Enewetak and Bikini Atolls
Redwing was the second U.S. test series devoted primarily to proving thermonuclear designs of actual weapons. While Castle had demonstrated heavy, conservatively designed, first generation weapons, Redwing centered on testing a broad variety of new innovative second generation designs.

The test names are all American Indian tribes. The UCRL devices were names for birds and musical instruments.

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Operation Plumbbob
1957 - Nevada Test Site
Operation Plumbbob was conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) from May through October of 1957. It was the sixth test series at NTS and consisted of 29 tests. Six of these were safety tests, and two did not produce any nuclear yield. This series addressed several objectives, including tactical weapon proof tests, safety tests, and component and mockup testing for thermonuclear systems to be detonated in Hardtack I, among other things.

During Plumbbob 16,000 DOD personnel participated in the Desert Rock VII and VIII exercises.

The LASL shots were named for deceased scientists, the UCRL shots were named for North American mountains.

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Operation Hardtack I
1958 - Pacific Proving Grounds
Hardtack I included 35 tests, the largest test series so far (1958 in fact saw a total of 77 U.S. tests, more than the three previous record setting years combined). Partly this burst of testing activity was due to building pressure for an imminent test moratorium, leading the weapons labs to rush as many device types to the test range as possible. A total of 35.6 megatons were shot during this series.

The lab tests centered on ICBM and SLBM missile warheads and high yield strategic bombs. The DOD conducted high altitude multi-megaton tests to study their usefulness for ABM (anti-ballistic missile) warheads, and discovered the high-altitude EMP (electromagnetic pulse) effect in the process. Effects tests of underwater explosions were also conducted.

The extensive test schedule required the use not only of both atolls (Bikini and Enewetak) but Johnston Island also. This series was the last to conduct atmospheric testing at Bikini and Enewetak atolls. Test names were taken from North American trees and shrubs.

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Operation Hardtack II
1958 - Nevada Test Site
Hardtack II included 37 tests, the largest test series so far, exceeding the 35 tests of the just completed Hardtack I. Hardtack I had focused primarily on high yield proof or developemental tests of complete thermonuclear weapons, which necessitated it be conducted in the distant Pacific (a total of 35.6 Mt being fired). In contrast, Hardtack II consisted exclusively of low yield tests, many of them attempted zero-yield one-point safety tests, which could be conducted in relative safety in Nevada (some were underground). Only 45.8 kt total was fired in Hardtack II, and of this only 18.5 kt was fired above ground.

The Los Alamos (LASL) shots had names taken from New Mexico counties. The Livermore (UCRL) shots had names of North American mountains, Roman gods and goddesses, and the fairies of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

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Operation Dominic
1962 - Christmas Island, Johnston Island, Central Pacific
Dominic included 36 tests. The majority of the tests (29 airdrops) were weapons development tests, intended to evaluate advanced designs that the labs had been cooking up during the years of the moratorium and before. Five rocket-launched tests were conducted to gather further weapons effects data on high-altitude phenomena. Two tests of operational weapon systems were conducted - the Polaris submarine launched ballistic missile and the ASROC anti-submarine rocket.

Conducted as part of Operation Dominic was a series of high altitude tests known as Operation Fishbowl. These tests were Thor missile launched warheads detonated at very high altitudes (30-248 miles) to evaluate the destructive mechanisms and effects of high yield explosions against ballistic missile RVs. Several test failures occurred with missiles being destroyed in flight by range safety officers when electronics failed (Bluegill), when rocket motors malfunctioned (Starfish and Bluegill Prime), or when the missile veered out of control (Bluegill Double Prime). The Bluegill Prime test was particularly disastrous since the missile was blown up while still on the launch pad, requiring complete reconstruction of the demolished and plutonium contaminated Thor launch facility.

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