Castle Bravo Test (1 marzo 1954 anni – 1 marzo 1954 anni)

Descrizione:

The Castle Bravo Test was one of the United States nuclear weapon tests during the Cold War. Operation Castle was the U.S. Department of Defense and Atomic Energy Commission testing a large thermoneuclear device codenamed “Shrimp”. The test occured at 6:45am March 1st, 1954 at Bikini Atoll on the Marshall Islands. Thermoneuclear reactions use nuclear fission to produce a immense amount of energy creating tremendously high temperatures. Hydrogen bombs were also going to be produced which never happened because of the destruction from “Shrimp”. The bomb was supposedly 1,000 times more powerful than “Litte Boy” the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima in WWII. The bombed surpased the expected yeild of TNT by almost double with a yield of 15 megatons. Castle Bravo left a crater 250 feet deep and 6,500 feet in diameter. The mushroom cloud from the explosion stretched four and a half miles wide and 130,000 feet high. The detonation contaminated all the land around for more than 7,000 square miles with radiation. One out of twenty three crew members directly working on the operation died, leaving the others with severe health issues. To prevent another disaster the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and United States in 1963. Putting this treaty into effect allowed for underground nuclear tests only in a effort to protect the environment and keep safe and healthy living conditions. Nuclear explosions were no longer prohibited undrewater, in the atmosphere or outer space. The LTBT lifted tensions on the arms race for nuclear weapons.

Writing Citations:
- “Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT).” U.S. Department of State, 5 Aug. 1963, 2009-2017.state.gov/t/avc/trty/199116.htm.
- “Bikini | Atoll, Marshall Islands.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Bikini-atoll-Marshall-Islands.
- Atomic Heritage Foundation. “Castle Bravo - Nuclear Museum.” Https://Ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/, 1 Mar. 2017, ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/castle-bravo/.

Image Citation:
- Rowberry, Ariana. “Castle Bravo: The Largest U.S. Nuclear Explosion.” Brookings, 27 Feb. 2014, www.brookings.edu/articles/castle-bravo-the-largest-u-s-nuclear-explosion/.

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