It was 1 March 1954, Monday morning on 6:45 when task force commander Clarkson affirmed his command to fire a hydrogen bomb, codenamed “Bravo” over the Nam Island on Bikini Atoll. The bomb was equivalent to 17 Megatons which was 1300 times much more than the cataclysmic power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After the World War II, atomic bomb had been developed rapidly, especially in America and The Soviet Union. From 1946 to 1958, America had conducted various nuclear testing programs, in the US Proving Ground, including 67 nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls.
Operation Castle
Operation Castle was one of the nuclear testing programs which were carried out in Bikini Atoll. America chose Bikini Atoll for nuclear testing program because they need bigger space than Eniwetok to run the test and also the consideration that it is located far away from populated area on Earth. Operation castle consisted of 6 detonations of atmospheric nuclear test, which is a detonation that takes place above the ground surface. The purpose of this operation was to test a series of high yield thermonuclear weapon design which can be delivered by aircraft.
The six experiments are: 1. Bravo
2. Romeo
3. Koon
4. Union
5. Yankee
6. Nectar
AEC Authorization for Operation Castle
0 comments:
Post a Comment