Operation Julin was a group of 7

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 by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1991–1992. These testsA bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points and does not exceed 40 kilometers in length". followed the '' Operation Sculpin'' series, and were the last before negotiations began for the

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations ...

Nuclear tests

Diamond Fortune

Shot ''Diamond Fortune'' was to investigate blast flow field produced by a modern nuclear weapon. The shot was fired in a half-spherical cavity with an radius, with a height of burst. The floor was divided into two sections, one covered in base soil and the other in snow simulant.

Hunters Trophy

Shot ''Hunters Trophy'' was Lawrence Livermore's last nuclear test and the second to last nuclear test conducted by the United states. Its purpose was to evaluate the radiation hardness of space and high altitude systems, such as optics, sensors and materials for the

Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...

, and the hardness of Sandia detonators. The test consisted of a HLOS pipe and "stub pipes" to simulate different nuclear battlefield environments. Hunters Trophy included the experiment ''Hydroplus''. The Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) developed a means of verifying non-standard nuclear tests using ground peak stress and velocity at several ranges from a possible detonation point using computer hydrocodes. These codes required calibration data which was gathered at Hunters Trophy. Further Hydroplus experiments were conducted in shot ''Distant Zenith'' of Operation Sculpin.

Divider

Divider was the last nuclear test conducted by the United States.

Cancelled tests

Three tests were being prepared when the moratorium ended further nuclear testing: Icecap, Gabbs and Greenwater. Icecap was scheduled for spring 1993. It had a planned yield of and was to be fired at below the surface in Area 9. A diagnostics canister exists at the site, weighing . The canister contains several experiments to be used in the test including THREX (threshold x-ray experiments) which used solid-state detectors to detect photon recoils given off by thin foils, PINEX (pinhole imaging neutron experiment) which used a pinhole to focus radiation onto a fluoroscope, NUEX (neutron experiment) which measured neutron output, and TOMEX (tomographic reconstruction experiment) which imaged the device using a streak camera. These experiments used line of sight (LOS) pipes to channel gamma, x-ray and neutron radiation from the device to them. Gabbs was planned for early 1993 in Area 2. Unlike Icecap, no diagnostics canister is assembled at the site. Greenwater, a Lawrence Livermore test, was to be fired in Area 19, and was a test of an

x-ray laser An X-ray laser is a device that uses stimulated emission to generate or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the near X-ray or extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum, that is, usually on the order of several tens of nanometers (nm) wavelength ...

system. The test was cancelled 16 July 1992. The Greenwater nuclear device had already been assembled at the time of cancellation, and had to be dismantled. A fourth test, Mighty Uncle, was planned for 1993. This test was to be a follow-up to Hunters Trophy. Two other tests, Dolomite and Mexia were also planned. Mexia was planned for Area 19. Both Gabbs and Greenwater were verifiable tests, meaning that under the

Threshold Test Ban Treaty The Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests, also known as the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT), was signed in July 1974 by the United States and Soviet Union. It establishes a nuclear "threshold" by prohibiting nuclear tests ...

, Russia was permitted to have observers and measurement equipment on site to verify that the test yields did not exceed .

List of nuclear tests

Gallery

References

{{US Nuclear Tests Explosions in 1991 Explosions in 1992

Julin Julin may refer to: * Julin (surname) *Julin, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship a settlement in (north Poland) *Julin, a semi-legendary medieval settlement thought to be identical with Jomsborg, Vineta and the modern town of Wolin in north-west Poland * ...

1991 in military history 1992 in military history 1991 in Nevada 1992 in Nevada 1991 in the environment 1992 in the environment