Operation Project 56
was a series of 4
nuclear test
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...
s conducted by the United States in 1955–1956 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 the ...
. These tests followed the ''
Operation Wigwam
Operation Wigwam involved a single test of the Mark 90 "Betty" nuclear bomb. It was conducted between '' Operation Teapot'' and '' Project 56'' on May 14, 1955, about 500 miles (800 km) southwest of San Diego, California. 6,800 personne ...
'' series and preceded the ''
Operation Redwing
Operation Redwing was a United States series of 17 nuclear test detonations from May to July 1956. They were conducted at Bikini and Enewetak atolls by Joint Task Force 7 (JTF7).Blumenson, Martin and Hugh D. Hexamer (1956). ''A History of ...
'' series.
Introduction
These experiments were safety tests, the purpose of which were to determine whether a weapon or warhead damaged in an accident would detonate with a nuclear yield, even if some or all of the high explosive components burned or detonated.
[National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office, ''Plutonium Dispersal Tests at the Nevada Test Site'', April 2010]
DOE/NV-1046
The procedure for these tests was to fault the test bomb by removing a detonator wire, or perhaps all but one, for example, possibly enhancing the weapon with extra initiators or an especially enriched core, and then to fire the weapon normally (see
Warhead design safety). If there is any nuclear yield in the firing, then the test is deemed a failure from a safety standpoint. A successful test will measure only the chemical explosive in the test bomb exploding, which still, of course, blasts the bomb core and causes the core material to be spread over a wide area if the test is in open air, as all the ''Project 56'' tests were.
Aftermath
Over of
Area 11 at the NTS were contaminated with
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
dust and fragments. The area has become known as ''Plutonium Valley'', and continues to be used on an intermittent basis for realistic drills in radiological monitoring and sampling operations.
See also
*
Project 57
Project 57 was an open-air nuclear test conducted by the United States at the Nellis Air Force Range in 1957, following Operation Redwing, and preceding Operation Plumbbob. The test area, also known as Area 13, was a by block of land ...
*
Operation Roller Coaster
*
Nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types:
* pure fission weapons, the simplest and least technically ...
Further reading
* Hansen, Chuck,
Swords of Armageddon (CD-ROM & download available). PDF. 2,600 pages, Sunnyvale, California, Chucklea Publications, 1995, 2007. (2nd Ed.)
References
{{US Nuclear Tests
Explosions in 1955
Explosions in 1956
Project 56
1955 in military history
1956 in military history
1955 in Nevada
1956 in Nevada
1955 in the environment
1956 in the environment