Operation Teapot
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Nuclear test Operation Teapot
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.jpg) Spectators watch Teapot MET ("Military Effects Test") |
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| information | |
| nation |
 United States
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| Test location | Nevada Test Site |
| Period | February – May 1955 |
| Number of tests | 14th |
| Weapon type | fission |
| Max. Explosive force | 43 kT |
| navigation | |
| Previous test | Operation Castle |
| Next test | Operation wigwam |
Operation Teapot was the eleventh series of American nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site in early 1955 . A total of 14 nuclear weapons tests took place.
The aim of the operation was to test new atomic bombs with low and medium explosive power .
During the Wasp test, around 8,000 soldiers took part in the "Desert Rock VI" maneuver. During the exercise, a combat group of 109 soldiers moved about 900 meters to the mushroom cloud that was forming.
The individual tests of the Teapot series
The tests were named after insects, fruits or vegetables, inventors or streets in San Francisco.
| bomb | Date / time ( PST / UTC − 8h ) | Proving Ground | Explosion height | Test type | Explosive force (predicted) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasp | February 18, 1955 12:00 PM |
Area 7 | 232 meters (762 feet) |
Dropped from a B-36 bomber | 1.2 kT | |
| Moth | February 22, 1955 5:45 a.m. |
Area 3 | 91 meters (300 feet) |
tower | 2 kT (4 kT) | unreinforced prototype of the W-30 warhead , weighing 200 kilograms, the lightest atomic bomb used up to now |
| Tesla | March 1, 1955 5:30 a.m. |
Area 9b | 91 meters (300 feet) |
tower | 7 kT (2 kT) | |
| Turk | March 7, 1955 5:20 am |
Area 2 | 152 meters (500 feet) |
tower | 43 kT (45 kT) | Test of the first stage of a fusion bomb; the flash of light was still more than 1,600 kilometers away in the state of Washington to see |
| Hornet | March 12, 1955 5:20 a.m. |
Area 3a | 91 meters (300 feet) |
tower | 4 kT | reinforced prototype of the W-30 warhead; a smoke mist was supposed to reduce the heat in the center, instead it increased the radioactivity to 2500 x-rays per hour. During the test, mice were placed near the explosion instead of soldiers. |
| Bee | March 22, 1955 5:05 a.m. |
Area 7 | 152 meters (500 feet) |
tower | 8 kT (20 kT) | 299 officers and 1,972 soldiers participated in the largest military exercise in the Teapot series |
| Ess ("Effects Sub-Surface") | March 23, 1955 12:30 p.m. |
Area 10 | −20 meters (−67 feet) |
Underground | 1.2 kT | Test of Atomic Demolition Munition (ADM). The underground test created a 300 foot (90 meters) crater. |
| Apple-1 | March 29, 1955 4:55 am |
Area 4 | 152 meters (500 feet) |
tower | 14 kT (40 kT) | Failed test of the first and second stages of a thermonuclear nuclear weapon |
| Wasp Prime | March 29, 1955 10:00 a.m. |
Area 7 | 225 meters (737 feet) |
Dropped from a B-36 bomber | 3.2 kT (3.2 kT) | Ignition only 5 hours and 5 minutes after the Apple-1 test. |
| HA ("high-altitude") | April 6, 1955 10:00 a.m. |
Area 1 | 11,161 meters (36,620 feet) |
Dropped from a B-36H bomber. | 3.2 kT | Ignition at high altitude. In order to give the plane enough time to escape, the fall of the bomb was delayed with a parachute. |
| post Office | April 9, 1955 4:30 am |
Area 9c | 91 meters (300 feet) |
tower | 2 kT | |
| MET ("Military Effects Test") | April 15, 1955 11:15 a.m. |
Frenchman Flats | 120 meters (400 feet) |
tower | 22 kT (33 kT) | Investigation of the destructive power of the atomic bomb on military facilities, among other things, the radiation effect on the summer and winter uniforms of the Chinese and Soviet troops was tested. A total of 260 soldiers took part in the test. |
| Apple-2 | May 5, 1955 5:10 am |
Area 1 | 152 meters (500 feet) |
tower | 29 kT (40 kT) | Repetition of the Apple-1 test. The civil defense exercise Operation Clue also took place during the test . This should test the destructive power on building structures. |
| zucchini | May 15, 1955 5:00 a.m. |
Area 7 | 152 meters (500 feet) |
tower | 28 kT (40 kT) | Test of the first ignition stage of a two-stage fusion bomb |
gallery
Explosion of Teapot Moth .
Soldiers during the Desert Rock VI maneuver .
Operation Teapot - Turk
Operation Teapot - Ess
Operation Teapot - Zucchini
Operation Teapot - MET
Photographers during the Wasp Prime test
One of the bomb towers used (152 meters)
Film footage of the test
Web links
Commons : Operation Teapot - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Individual evidence
- ↑ US Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office: United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992 , DOE / NV - 209-REV 15, December 2000, (PDF, 877 kB) ( Memento from October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Robert Standish Norris, Thomas B. Cochran: United States nuclear tests, July 1945 to 31 December 1992 (NWD 94-1) , Nuclear Weapons Databook Working Paper, Washington, DC: Natural Resources Defense Council, February 1, 1994, (PDF , 4.26 MB) ( Memento from October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Gallery of US Nuclear Tests ( memento August 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) at nuclearweaponarchive.org
- ↑ a b Michael Light: 100 Suns , 2003
Coordinates: 37 ° 8 '9.95 " N , 116 ° 4' 6.59" W.