Operation Plumbbob: Difference between revisions
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Approximately 18,000 members of the U.S. [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] participated in exercises [[Desert Rock VII]] and [[Desert Rock VIII|VIII]] during Operation Plumbbob. The military was interested in knowing how the average foot-soldier would stand up, physically and psychologically, to the rigors of the tactical [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear battlefield]]. | Approximately 18,000 members of the U.S. [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] participated in exercises [[Desert Rock VII]] and [[Desert Rock VIII|VIII]] during Operation Plumbbob. The military was interested in knowing how the average foot-soldier would stand up, physically and psychologically, to the rigors of the tactical [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear battlefield]]. | ||
Almost 1,200 pigs were subjected to bio-medical experiments and blast-effects studies during Operation Plumbbob. On shot ''Priscilla'' (37 kt), 719 pigs were used in various experiments on [[Frenchman Flat]]. Some pigs were placed in elevated cages and provided with suits made of different materials, to test which materials provided best protection from the [[Effects of nuclear explosions#Thermal radiation|thermal radiation]]. As shown and reported in the [[PBS]] documentary ''[[Dark Circle (film)|Dark Circle]]'', the pigs survived, but with third-degree burns to 80% of their bodies.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/darkcircle/ |title=Dark Circle |date=March 27, 2007 |people=Judy Irving, Chris Beaver, Ruth Landy (directors) |type=DVD |isbn=0-7670-9304-6 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811113037/http://www.pbs.org/pov/darkcircle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other pigs were placed in pens behind large sheets of glass at measured distances from the [[hypocenter]] to test the effects of flying debris on living targets. | Almost 1,200 pigs were subjected to bio-medical experiments and blast-effects studies during Operation Plumbbob. On shot ''Priscilla'' (37 kt), 719 pigs were used in various experiments on [[Frenchman Flat]]. Some pigs were placed in elevated cages and provided with suits made of different materials, to test which materials provided best protection from the [[Effects of nuclear explosions#Thermal radiation|thermal radiation]]. As shown and reported in the [[PBS]] documentary ''[[Dark Circle (film)|Dark Circle]]'', the pigs survived, but with third-degree burns to 80% of their bodies.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/darkcircle/ |title=Dark Circle |date=March 27, 2007 |people=Judy Irving, Chris Beaver, Ruth Landy (directors) |type=DVD |isbn=0-7670-9304-6 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811113037/http://www.pbs.org/pov/darkcircle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other pigs were placed in pens behind large sheets of glass at measured distances from the [[hypocenter]] to test the effects of flying debris on living targets. | ||
Studies were conducted of [[radioactive contamination]] and [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]] from a simulated accidental detonation of a weapon, and projects concerning earth motion, blast loading and [[neutron]] output were carried out. | Studies were conducted of [[radioactive contamination]] and [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]] from a simulated accidental detonation of a weapon, and projects concerning earth motion, blast loading and [[neutron]] output were carried out. | ||
Latest revision as of 20:02, 9 June 2025
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox nuclear weapons test Template:GeoGroup Operation Plumbbob was a series of nuclear tests that were conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site, following Project 57, and preceding Project 58/58A.[1]
Background
The operation consisted of 29 explosions, of which only two did not produce any nuclear yield. Twenty-one laboratories and government agencies were involved. While most Operation Plumbbob tests contributed to the development of warheads for intercontinental and intermediate range missiles, they also tested air defense and anti-submarine warheads with smaller yields. They included 43 military effects tests on civil and military structures, radiation and bio-medical studies, and aircraft structural tests. Operation Plumbbob had the tallest tower tests to date in the U.S. nuclear testing program as well as high-altitude balloon tests. One nuclear test involved the largest troop maneuver ever associated with U.S. nuclear testing.
Approximately 18,000 members of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines participated in exercises Desert Rock VII and VIII during Operation Plumbbob. The military was interested in knowing how the average foot-soldier would stand up, physically and psychologically, to the rigors of the tactical nuclear battlefield.
Almost 1,200 pigs were subjected to bio-medical experiments and blast-effects studies during Operation Plumbbob. On shot Priscilla (37 kt), 719 pigs were used in various experiments on Frenchman Flat. Some pigs were placed in elevated cages and provided with suits made of different materials, to test which materials provided best protection from the thermal radiation. As shown and reported in the PBS documentary Dark Circle, the pigs survived, but with third-degree burns to 80% of their bodies.[2] Other pigs were placed in pens behind large sheets of glass at measured distances from the hypocenter to test the effects of flying debris on living targets.
Studies were conducted of radioactive contamination and fallout from a simulated accidental detonation of a weapon, and projects concerning earth motion, blast loading and neutron output were carried out.
Nuclear weapons safety experiments were conducted to study the possibility of a nuclear weapon detonation during an accident. On July 26, 1957, a safety experiment, Pascal-A, was detonated in an unstemmed hole at the Nevada Test Site, becoming the first underground shaft nuclear test. The knowledge gained provided data to prevent nuclear yields in case of accidental detonations—for example, in a plane crash.
Script error: No such module "anchor". The John shot on July 19, 1957, was the only test of the Air Force's AIR-2A Genie rocket with a nuclear warhead.[3] It was fired from an F-89J Scorpion fighter over Yucca Flats at the Nevada National Security Site. On the ground, the Air Force carried out a public relations event by having five Air Force officers and a motion picture photographer stand under ground zero of the blast, which took place at between Template:Convert altitude, with the idea of demonstrating the possibility of the use of the weapon over civilian populations without ill effects.[4] The five officers were Colonel Sidney C. Bruce, later professor of Electrical Engineering at Colorado University, died in 2005; Lieutenant Colonel Frank P. Ball, died in 2003; Major John W. Hughes II, died in 1990; Major Norman B. Bodinger, died in 1997; Major Donald A. Luttrell, died in 2014.[5] The videographer, Akira "George" Yoshitake, died in 2013.[6]
Script error: No such module "anchor". The Rainier shot, conducted September 19, 1957, was the first fully contained underground nuclear test, meaning that no fission products were vented into the atmosphere. This test of 1.7 kt could be detected around the world by seismologists using ordinary seismic instruments. The Rainier test became the prototype for larger and more powerful underground tests.
Script error: No such module "anchor". Images from Upshot-Knothole Grable were accidentally relabeled as belonging to the Priscilla shot from Operation Plumbbob in 1957. As a consequence publications including official government documents have the photo mislabeled. The shots can be told apart by the trails of test rockets, which are prominently featured in images and footage of Grable, but appear almost completely absent at the actual Priscilla shot.[7]
Missing steel bore cap
Script error: No such module "anchor". In 1956, Robert Brownlee, from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, was asked to examine whether nuclear detonations could be conducted underground. The first subterranean test was the nuclear device known as Pascal A, which was lowered down a Template:Convert borehole. However, the detonated yield turned out to be 50,000 times greater than anticipated, creating a jet of fire that shot hundreds of meters into the sky.[8] During the Pascal-B nuclear test of August 1957,[8][9] a Template:Convert iron lid was welded over the borehole to contain the nuclear blast, despite Brownlee predicting that it would not work.[8] When Pascal-B was detonated, the blast went straight up the test shaft, launching the cap into the atmosphere. The plate was never found.[10] Scientists believe compression heating caused the cap to vaporize as it sped through the atmosphere.[8] A high-speed camera, which took one frame per millisecond, was focused on the borehole because studying the velocity of the plate was deemed scientifically interesting.[8] After the detonation, the plate appeared in only one frame. Regarding its speed Brownlee reckoned that "a lower limit could be calculated by considering the time between frames (and I don't remember what that was)", and joked that the best estimate was it was "going like a bat!".[10] Brownlee estimated that the explosion, combined with the specific design of the shaft, could accelerate the plate to approximately six times Earth's escape velocity.[10]
List of tests
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| Name | Date time (UT) (local: PST, −8 hrs)[note 1] |
Location[note 2] | Elevation + height [note 3] | Delivery [note 4] Purpose [note 5] |
Device[note 6] | Yield[note 7] | Fallout[note 8] | References | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BoltzmannScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:55:00.2 | NTS Area 7c Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
XW-40 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | XW-40 lightweight boosted fission warhead test. |
| FranklinScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:54:59.9 | NTS Area T3 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
XW-30 ? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | XW-30 warhead test, fizzled. Retested successfully with Franklin Prime, with more fissile material in the core and different explosives. |
| LassenScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:45:00.3 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][15] | Fizzle, unboosted all-oralloy small weapon design. | |
| WilsonScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:45:00.3 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-45X1 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] | XW-45X1 Swan test, gas-boosted composite pit. |
| PriscillaScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 13:30:00.1 | NTS Area 5 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
Mk-15/39 primary | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][12][13][14][15] | Effects shot with OTS weapon. Similar to that tested in Redwing Lacrosse. |
| Coulomb-AScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 17:30:?? | NTS Area S3h Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + 0 | dry surface, safety experiment |
XW-31 | Template:Sort | [1][11][12][14][15][16] | Safety experiment, successful. | |
| HoodScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:40:00.1 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
Swan primary and Whistle secondary. Full-scale test of device was Hardtack I Maple shot.[17] | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][15] | Largest atmospheric test in CONUS. Was a 2-stage thermonuclear device, even though AEC stated that no thermonuclear devices were being tested at the NTS. Desert Rock VII. |
| DiabloScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:30:00.1 | NTS Area T2b Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
Swan | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][15] | Very similar to the Shasta test device. 2 stage. Misfired at first firing attempt three days earlier. |
| JohnScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 14:00:04.6 | Launch from NTS, Areas 1–4, 6–10, Yucca Flat: 10 Template:Coord, elv: Template:Convert; Detonation over NTS Template:Coord |
Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | Air launched rocket, weapon effect | W-25 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, 6.1MCi? | [1][12][13][14][15] | Proof test of AIR-2A Genie air-to-air rocket. Test made famous by five USAF officers and a videographer standing at ground zero below the hypocentre and during the detonation, flash and blast. |
| KeplerScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 11:49:59.9 | NTS Area 4 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
XW-35 primary? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | ICBM warhead, similar to Hardtack I/Koa. |
| OwensScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 13:29:59.7 | NTS Area B9b ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-51 ? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] | Very small boosted plutonium device, XW-51 progenitor. |
| Template:Visible anchor | Template:Dts 08:00:00.0 | NTS Area U3j Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert–Template:Convert | underground shaft, safety experiment |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][12][13][15] | Originally Galileo A. One-point safety experiment, failure. Expected yield was less than 1 kg. A concrete cylinder perhaps Template:Convert thick Template:Convert up the tube disappeared. | |
| StokesScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:25:00.2 | NTS Area B7b ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-30 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition (TADM) and Talos SAM warhead. |
| SaturnScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 00:59:55.1 | NTS Area U12c.02 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert–Template:Convert | tunnel, safety experiment |
XW-45X1 | Template:Sort | [1][12][14][15][18] | One-point safety experiment; first shot in a Rainier tunnel. | |
| ShastaScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:00:00.0 | NTS Area 2a Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
Swan | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][15] | 2 stage thermonuclear design. |
| DopplerScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:30:00.1 | NTS Area B7b ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-34 ? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | LASL gas boosted implosion device, possible XW-34 test. |
| Pascal-BScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 22:35:00.0 | NTS Area U3d Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert–Template:Convert | underground shaft, safety experiment |
Template:Sort | [1][11][12][13][15] | Shaft safety experiment, failed. Sent the shaft cap weighing several hundred pounds (1 ton) at velocity very roughly pre-calculated as Template:Convert; popular claims of it reaching space are disputed, see section above. | ||
| Franklin PrimeScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:39:59.9 | NTS Area B7b ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | Retest of Franklin with more U-235. | |
| SmokyScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:30:00.0 | NTS Area T2c Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
TX-41 primary | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15][19] | 2 stages of 3 stage thermonuke, similar to Redwing/Zuni and Tewa. Desert Rock VII; 3000 servicemen irradiated; 10 of 4 expected leukemia cases in the 80s. Last pristine air-drop location at the NTS. |
| GalileoScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:40:00.0 | NTS Area T1 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][15] | LASL diagnostic/exploratory test of boosted fission device. Desert Rock VIII. | |
| WheelerScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:45:00.0 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-51 ? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] | Retest of redesigned Lassen device, possible XW-51 air-to-air warhead progenitor. |
| Coulomb-BScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 20:05:00.6 | NTS Area S3g Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + 0 | dry surface, safety experiment |
XW-31 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] | One-point safety experiment, high limits test, expected 1 kg TNT equivalent, max .2 kt - failure. |
| LaplaceScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:59:59.8 | NTS Area B7b ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-33 "Fleegle" | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][15] | Oralloy gun-type device, for a nuclear artillery shell. The third of only four gun-type weapons, with Little Boy, Grable and Aardvark. |
| FizeauScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 16:44:59.8 | NTS Area T3b Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
XW-34 ? | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | LASL boosted fission device. Possibly a test of the XW-34 depth bomb. |
| NewtonScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:49:59.9 | NTS Area B7a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-31 | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][14][15] | LASL test of XW-31 variant, boosted primary in thermonuclear system mockup. Sounds like a fizzle, but no one says so. |
| RainierScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 16:59:59.45 | NTS Area U12b Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert–Template:Convert | tunnel, weapons development |
W-25 | Template:Sort | [1][11][12][13][14][15][18] | First US underground nuclear test. Evaluate containment and detection of underground testing, formed a chimney of broken rock which provided data on possible underground engineering applications of nuclear explosives. | |
| WhitneyScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:29:59.8 | NTS Area T2 Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | tower, weapons development |
W27 primary | Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] | Test of boosted Swan primary in W-27 thermonuclear system mockup. |
| CharlestonScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 12:59:59.9 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][13][15] | UCRL test of a small "clean" tactical 2-stage thermonuclear device. Device fizzled when second stage failed to fire. | |
| MorganScript error: No such module "anchor". | Template:Dts 13:00:00.1 | NTS Area B9a ~ Template:Coord | Template:SortTemplate:Convert + Template:Convert | balloon, weapons development |
XW-45X1 Swan/ |
Template:Sort | I-131 venting detected, Template:Convert | [1][11][12][14][15] |
Gallery
-
Plumbbob-Hood, 74-kilotons.
-
Plumbbob-Fizeau, 11-kilotons.
-
Plumbbob-Galileo, 11-kilotons.
-
Plumbbob-Coulomb-B.
-
Plumbbob-Rainier, 1.7-kilotons.
-
Plumbbob-Rainier device.
-
Plumbbob-John, 2-kilotons.
-
Plumbbob-John launch, via F-89.
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Video clips: Historic color footage of shot "Owens", Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". during Operation Plumbbob
- Plumbbob page on the Nuclear Weapons Archive (also refers to manhole cover issue mentioned above).
Template:Nuclear weapons tests of the United States Template:Authority control
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