Today in 1968, the United States conducted Schooner, a Project Plowshare experiment in which a 30-kiloton device was exploded 355 feet under the Nevada Test Site to study nuclear excavation techniques. This was the last US nuclear test to deliberately reach with the atmosphere.
Here is restored official footage of the Schooner explosion breaching the surface and the early formation of the resulting highly-radioactive dust cloud:
And here is a short official (but silent) film about the preparations for and execution of the Schooner test, including multiple views of the explosion and the very large dust cloud from the ground and the air.
To demonstrate the power of the nuclear explosion, this film superimposes a standard football field inside the 426-foot-wide, 208-foot-deep crater, before showing the entire Rose Bowl could fit inside.
Here are the estimated trajectories for Schooner’s radioactive fallout cloud at different altitudes for several days after the test:
** to deliberately reach the atmosphere **

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AtomicAnalyst

10 Dec
Today in 1967, the AEC, Dept. of the Interior, and the El Paso Gas Company conducted Project Gasbuggy, a Project Plowshare nuclear test to stimulate natural gas production ~55 mi. E of Farmington and ~12 mi. SW of Dulce, New Mexico, adjacent to the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. ImageImageImage
Yes, someone (actually, many someones) thought nuclear fracking was a really good idea. So, as part of nuclear test series Operation Crosstie, a 29-kiloton device developed by Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory was emplaced at the bottom of a 4,240-foot shaft and detonated. ImageImage
After the explosion, natural gas production increased relative to nearby conventional gas wells but—surprise!—it was too radioactive to be sold on the commercial market. It also had a significantly lower heat value. Production tests and evaluation activities continued until 1976. Image
Read 5 tweets
10 Dec
Sixty years ago today, the US Atomic Energy Commission conducted Project Gnome, the first of 27 “peaceful” nuclear explosions under Project Plowshare. A 3.1-kiloton device was detonated inside a salt formation 1,184 feet underground, 12 miles from Loving, New Mexico. Image
Contrary to scientists’ expectations, the test shaft did not seal itself as a result of the explosion, and seven minutes after detonation, highly-radioactive steam was seen venting from it. ImageImage
As an official AEC film (featuring an enthusiastic introduction by Edward Teller) put it: “Minor amounts of radiation released soon dissipate, and no harmful offsite contamination is reported. ... No exposure [to personnel] exceeds the limits established.”
Read 5 tweets
8 Dec
OTD in 1964 at Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, as aircraft were taxiing during an Operational Readiness Alert inspection exercise in icy weather, a B-58 carrying a 9Mt B53 bomb in a pod and four 70kt-1Mt B43 bombs skidded off the taxiway, suffered landing gear failure, and caught fire.
All three crew members abandoned the aircraft. The commander and defensive systems operated escaped with superficial burns. Navigator Manuel “Rocky” Cervantes, Jr., 29, was trapped and opted to use his escape capsule. Its parachute had no time to deploy. He landed hard and died.
When the landing gear collapsed, the B-58 crushed the pod beneath it, which carried both the B53 bomb _and_ 14,000 gallons of fuel. The fire caused the high explosives in all five bombs to detonate. The wreckage burned for two hours. Three of the five bombs were heavily damaged.
Read 7 tweets
8 Dec
Today in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced his “Atoms for Peace” plan at the UN General Assembly, which led to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and unwittingly made it much easier for states to develop nuclear weapons. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/…
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles believed that US and Soviet donations of fissionable material to an international agency—to fuel peaceful research and power reactors around the world—would actually decrease the amount of uranium and plutonium available for nuclear weapons.
But when Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov told Dulles that such reactors could be used to make A-bomb fuel, Dulles completely failed to grasp that with “Atoms for Peace,” Ike had committed to disseminating nuclear technology without even a rudimentary risk assessment.
Read 4 tweets
7 Dec
Today in 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited Strategic Air Command headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, and presented CINCSAC Gen. Thomas S. Power with a plaque commending SAC's air operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis less than two months earlier.
Here is (silent) color footage of Kennedy's visit to SAC and a transcript of his remarks that day: historyinpieces.com/video/footage/…
Kennedy then flew to New Mexico and became the first US president to visit Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (now @LosAlamosNatLab), accompanied by Vice President Lyndon Johnson, AEC chairman Glenn Seaborg, laboratory director Norris Bradbury, and others.
Read 6 tweets
3 Dec
55 years ago today, the United States conducted the Sterling nuclear test inside Tatum Salt Dome 21 miles southwest of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. A 380-ton device was detonated at a depth of 2,715 feet inside the cavity created by the 5.3-kiloton Salmon test on October 22, 1964.
This was the second of two underground nuclear tests to determine whether decoupled nuclear explosions inside salt domes could be detected and their yields accurately measured. This was done in the context of assessing the verifiability a nuclear test ban.
Today, the site is marked with a granite monument erected by the Department of Defense explaining what happened there, along with a warning not to excavate, drill, or remove any materials from the area.
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(