Operation Roller Coaster was a series of four

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

s conducted jointly by the United States and the United Kingdom in 1963, at the

Nevada Test Site The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...

. The tests did not involve the detonation of any nuclear weapons. Instead, their purpose was to evaluate the distribution of radioactive particles in a "

dirty bomb A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with ...

" scenario, or an inadvertent, non-nuclear detonation of a nuclear weapon, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of storage structures in containing the explosion and the particles released. The tests followed the ''

Operation Storax Operation Storax was a series of 47 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1962–1963 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the ''Operation Fishbowl'' series and preceded the ''Operation Roller Coaster'' series. British test ...

'' series and preceded the ''

Operation Niblick The United States's Niblick nuclear test series was a group of 41 nuclear tests conducted in 1963–1964. These tests A bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explo ...

'' series.

References

{{US Nuclear Tests Explosions in 1963 1963 in military history 1963 in Nevada 1963 in the United Kingdom May 1963 events in the United States June 1963 events in the United States

Roller Coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

British nuclear weapons testing