Sedan (nuclear weapon test)
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Nuclear test Sedan
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 Storax Sedan explosion |
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| information | |
| nation |
 United States
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| Test series | Operation Storax |
| Test location | Nevada Test Site |
| date | July 6, 1962 5:00 p.m. ( GMT ) |
| Test type | Underground test (shaft) |
| Test height | −194 meters |
| Weapon type | Hydrogen bomb |
| Explosive power | 104 kT |
| target | Research into civilian nuclear explosions as part of Operation Plowshare |
Sedan was an Operation Storax nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States on July 6, 1962 at the Nevada Test Site nuclear test site in the US state of Nevada . He was part of the Operation Plowshare program , in which the use of atomic bombs for civil purposes, such as B. in mining, should be investigated.
Sedan was a thermonuclear explosive device ; less than 30 percent of the energy released was generated by nuclear fission , the rest by nuclear fusion .
procedure
The nuclear explosive device was lowered into a shaft to a depth of 211 meters; The aim was, among other things, to maximize the size of the resulting crater while at the same time minimizing the radioactive pollution of the atmosphere from the resulting radioactive cloud ( mushroom cloud ).
The explosive force was 104 kilotons , about 12 million tons of rock were moved and the radioactive cloud reached a height of about 4 km. It drifted northeast and then east toward the Mississippi River . The resulting crater was 106 m deep and 400 m in diameter.
Only about 2 percent of the radiation released ended up in the mushroom cloud, the rest either fell back directly into the crater or fell to the ground in close proximity. Nevertheless, months later, (minor) radioactive fallout was detected from Sedan to near Chicago . In general, Sedan exposed a significant part of the US population (around 7 percent, equivalent to around 13 million people in 1962).
Explosion crater
Sedan's crater is up to 390 m (1280 ft) in diameter and up to 98 m (320 ft) deep. It still exists today. You will also pass Sedan on a guided tour of the Nevada Test Site. Registration for the tour is required one year in advance for security reasons (as of 2010).
The crater was added to the US National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 1994 .
The crater can be seen with the naked eye from Earth orbit.
See also
Web links
- Project Sedan - Declassified US Nuclear Test Film # 30 ( YouTube video)
- Information about the Storax test series , including the Sedan test
- Sedan Tested Use of Nuclear Explosives to Move Earth (English)
Individual evidence
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↑ Information sign at the crater:
- ^ Nevada Division of Environmental Protection: Photos - Underground Nuclear Testing - Nevada Test Site ( Memento June 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 37 ° 10 '37 " N , 116 ° 2' 47" W.