This Day in Nuclear Testing

[mhansen2]

This will be a daily list of test shots conducted by the nuclear powers. Comments are welcomed.

21 August

1962 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 153.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1965 – US nuclear test. Shot Ticking, Operation Flintlock.
Operation Flintlock (nuclear test) - Wikipedia

 

[mhansen2]

22 August


1957 - Soviet nuclear test. Shot 41 (Joe 36).
1957 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1958 – UK nuclear test. Shot Z1/Pennant 2, Operation Grapple.
Operation Grapple - Wikipedia

1962 – Three Soviet nuclear tests.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1964 – US nuclear test. Shot Canvasback, Operation Whetstone.
Operation Whetstone - Wikipedia

1988 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 699 Rubin 2.
1988 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

 

[whitehall]

Operation "Upshot Knothole" 1953 Nevada desert.. About 21,000 Soldiers used and little record of a spike in cancer among the Troops. The radioactive cloud apparently drifted to Utah to a site used in the 1956 movie "The Conqueror" starring Duke Wayne. A high number of the actors in the movie subsequently died of cancer and the movie was a flop.

 

[mhansen2]

There were many tests where US troops were deliberately exposed to radiation from tests. The decision boggles the mind.

 

[mhansen2]

23 August


1953 - Soviet nuclear test. Shot 5 Tatyana (Joe 5).
1953 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1957 – US nuclear test. Shot Doppler, Operation Plumbbob.
Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob - Wikipedia

1962 – Soviet nuclear test.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1963 – Two US nuclear tests. Shots Kohocton and Natches 2, Operation Niblick.
Operation Niblick - Wikipedia

1975 – Eight Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 427-1 thru -8.
1975 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1982 – Two Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 593-1,-2.
1982 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1988 – Two US nuclear tests. Shots Harlingen-A and -B, Operation Touchstone.
Operation Touchstone - Wikipedia

 

[Daryl Hunt]

In the Bad Old days, strange things were done in secret that did jeapordize innocents that weren't aware that it was happening. Not so much today.

 

[mhansen2]

24 August


1956 - Soviet nuclear test. Shot 28 (Joe 23).
1956 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1962 – Two US nuclear tests. Shots York and Bobac, Operation Storax.
Operation Storax
Operation Storax - Wikipedia

1967 – US nuclear test. Shot Lexington, Operation Crosstie.
Operation Crosstie - Wikipedia

1968 – France nuclear test. Shot Canopus. First French thermonuclear detonation.
1966–70 French nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1973 – France nuclear test. Shot Parthenope.
1971–74 French nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1974 – France nuclear test. Shot Taureau.
1971–74 French nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1978 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 492, Kraton 3.
1978 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

I'm also including accidents involving US nuclear weapons. My primary source is:
index.htm


US accident

1978 – TITAN II missile / Rock, Kansas

An EPA report dated February 1991 lists a TITAN as having been involved in a nuclear weapons accident on this date at this location. Gregory claims that 13,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen tetroxide leaked from an unarmed TITAN and vaporized, resulting in the death of two persons and injuries to at least 30 others; residents in town were evacuated. No further details are currently available.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.290.

Titan II 533-7 Missile Silo McConnell AFB Kansas

 

[fncceo]

It's a shame they don't above ground test anymore ... must have been better than the 4th of July

 

[mhansen2]

25 August

1962 – Two Soviet nuclear tests.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1984 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 643 Kvarts 3.
1984 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

 

[mhansen2]

26 August

1957 - Soviet nuclear test. Shot 42.
1957 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1972 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 367.
1972 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1976 – US/UK nuclear test. Shot Banon, Operation Anvil.
Operation Anvil (nuclear test) - Wikipedia
British nuclear testing in the United States - Wikipedia

1984 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 644 Dynamika.
1984 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

 

[mhansen2]

27 August


1957 - US nuclear test. Shot Pascal-B, Operation Plumbbob.
Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob - Wikipedia

1958 – US nuclear test. Shot Argus I, Operation Argus. First US space nuclear test.
Operation Argus
Operation Argus - Wikipedia

1962 – Two Soviet nuclear tests.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1964 – US nuclear test. Shot Player, Operation Whetstone.
Operation Whetstone - Wikipedia

1965 – US nuclear test. Shot Centaur, Operation Flintlock.
Operation Flintlock (nuclear test) - Wikipedia

1968 – US nuclear test. Shot Diana Moon, Operation Bowline.
Operation Bowline - Wikipedia

1969 – Two US nuclear tests. Shots Pliers and Horehound, Operation Mandrel.
Operation Mandrel - Wikipedia

1981 – US nuclear test. Shot Islay, Operation Guardian.
Operation Guardian - Wikipedia

1983 – US nuclear test. Shot Jarlsberg, Operation Phalanx.
Operation Phalanx - Wikipedia

1984 – Two Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 645 Dnepr 2 -1,-2.
1984 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

 

[whitehall]

I just watched a Discovery channel program about the Atomic Bomb tests near Las Vegas. There were so many blasts that it attracted a regular tourist industry before the big gambling casinos. At one point the local newspapers claimed they were disappointed about one test because it wasn't powerful enough. Nobody in the Truman administration seemed concerned about the fallout or the contamination. It's interesting to note that the U.S. Army forced thousands of Soldiers to participate in the Atomic tests. Were they used as gunea pigs? The Korean War casualty list used to be 50,000 before Bill Clinton and the DOD revised it down to 35,000 to include only the Troops who were killed on the Korean peninsula. Where did the 15,000 Troops go? Did they die during Atomic Bomb testing?

 

[mhansen2]

Scientists were concerned about radioactive fallout at Trinity as illustrated in this Army report to General Groves about monitoring precautions.

Atomic Bomb: Decision -- Trinity Test, July 16, 1945

There was sufficient scientific knowledge on the dangers of contamination.

 

[mhansen2]

For those more interested in radiation knowledge early in the nuclear weapons program, see:

Barton C. Hacker, "The Dragon's Tail, Radiation Safety in the Manhattan Project, 1942-1946" University of California Press. 1987. ISBN 0-520-05852-6.

 

[mhansen2]

28 August


1964 – US nuclear test. Shot Haddock, Operation Whetstone.
Operation Whetstone - Wikipedia

1972 – Four Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 368-1, -2, -3, -4.
1972 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1973 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 384, Meridian 1.
1973 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1976 – Soviet nuclear test. Shot 448.
1976 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1984 – Two Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 646 Gelly 2, 647 Gelly 2.
1984 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

 

[mhansen2]

29 August

1949 – First Soviet nuclear test. Shot Joe 1
1949–51 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia
The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program

1968 – US nuclear test. Shot Sled, Operation Bowline.
Operation Bowline - Wikipedia

1973 – France nuclear test. Shot Tamara.
1971–74 French nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1974 – Six Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 406, Gorizont 1 and 407-1,-2,-3,-4,-5
1974 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1978 – Four Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 493 -1 thru -3, 494.
1978 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1979 – US/UK nuclear test. Shot Nessel, Operation Quicksilver.
Operation Quicksilver (1978) - Wikipedia
British nuclear testing in the United States - Wikipedia

 

[whitehall]

Scientists were concerned about radioactive fallout at Trinity as illustrated in this Army report to General Groves about monitoring precautions.

Atomic Bomb: Decision -- Trinity Test, July 16, 1945

There was sufficient scientific knowledge on the dangers of contamination.

"Scientists were concerned"? Scientists were in charge since the Generals didn't have a clue. The problem was that the Truman administration wasn't concerned.

 

[mhansen2]

"Scientists were concerned"? Scientists were in charge since the Generals didn't have a clue. The problem was that the Truman administration wasn't concerned.

Scientists may have been making the day to day experimental decisions as the Trinity test approached, but it was still an Army project. I doubt the Truman administration knew enough to be concerned or not. By the Trinity test, Truman had been president only a few months and he had many other things on his mind. As you said, the Army didn't have a clue. It was all too new.

 

[mhansen2]

30 August

1956 - Soviet nuclear test. Shot 29 (Joe 24).
1956 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1957 – US nuclear test. Shot Franklin Prime, Operation Plumbbob.
Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob - Wikipedia

1958 – US nuclear test. Shot Argus II, Operation Argus.
Operation Argus
Operation Argus - Wikipedia

1974 – US nuclear test. Shot Portmanteau, Operation Bedrock.
Operation Bedrock - Wikipedia

1984 – Two US nuclear tests. Shots Dolcetto and Wexford, Operation Fusileer.
Operation Fusileer - Wikipedia

1988 – US nuclear test. Shot Bullfrog, Operation Touchstone.
Operation Touchstone - Wikipedia

 

[mhansen2]

31 August

1957 – US nuclear test. Shot Smoky, Operation Plumbbob.
Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob - Wikipedia

1962 – Soviet nuclear test.
1962 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

1967 – US nuclear test. Shot Door Mist, Operation Crosstie.
Operation Crosstie - Wikipedia

1978 – US nuclear test. Shot Panir, Operation Cresset.
Operation Cresset - Wikipedia

1982 – Two Soviet nuclear tests. Shots 594-1,-2.
1982 Soviet nuclear tests - Wikipedia

US nuclear accident

1962 – JUPITER missile / Italy

A JUPITER missile armed with a W-49 warhead was struck by lightning, resulting in activation of thermal batteries in the adaption kit. The missile was returned to operational status after 31 days. Between July and September 1962, the Air Force erected protective lightning strike diversion tower arrays at all of its Italian and Turkish missile launch sites.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.271