Castle Bravo test blast miscalculation

Castle Bravo Blast — Nuclear weapon test Bravo (yield 15 Mt) on Bikini Atoll. The test was part of the Operation Castle.

The location[]

The atomic test blast occurred on March 1, 1954. It was one of many American test blasts on Bikini Atoll, in the then American owned Marshal Islands.

The bomb it's self[]

The bomb was called Shrimp and used lithium deuteride, which is a solid at room temperature; Ivy Mike used cryogenic liquid deuterium, which required elaborate cooling equipment to stay solid. The atomic device was in the form of a very large metal cylinder weighing 23,500 pounds (10.7 t) and measuring 179.5 inches (4.56 m) in length and 53.9 inches (1.37 m) in diameter.

The test blast[]

The blast yield was 15 megatons. The fireball was almost four and a half miles (roughly 7 km) across within a second. This fireball was visible on Kwajalein atoll over 250 miles (400 km) away. The explosion left a crater 6,500 feet (2,000 m) in diameter and 250 feet (76 m) in depth. The mushroom cloud reached a height of 47,000 feet (14,000 m) and a diameter of 7 miles (11 km) in about a minute; it then reached a height of 130,000 feet (40 km) and 62 miles (100 km) in diameter in less than 10 minutes and was expanding at more than 100 meters per second (360 km/h; 220 mph).

The accident[]

It was an utter technological disaster! The plan was to have a blast with an expected yield of 4 to 8 megatons (with 6 Mt being officially predicted), but the actual yield far exceeding this with a blast of 15 megatons.

Radioactive fall out was horrendous spread over thousands of miles in the western and central Pacific, contaminating several small islands like Rongerik, Rongelap and Utirik.

The immediate injuries were on the American aircraft carrier USS Bairoko, were 16 crew members received beta burns.

The aftermath[]

An air burst (that is, a nuclear detonation far above the surface) can eventually produce worldwide fallout. A ground burst can produce possibly much more severe, but local fallout.

Parts of the sea bottom may become fallout. After the Castle Bravo test, white dust—contaminated calcium oxide particles originating from pulverized and calcined corals—fell for several hours, causing beta burns and radiation exposure to the inhabitants of the nearby atolls and the crew of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat. The scientists called the fallout "Bikini snow".

The non immediate injuries were on the Japanese fishing boat, Daigo\Fukuryū Maru (Lucky Dragon No.5). It came in direct contact with the fallout, which caused many of the crew to grow ill with radiation poisoning one member later died of a fatal secondary infection.

Small amounts of radioactive fall out went as far as Australia, India, Japan, the United States and parts of Europe.

Later tests revealed the presence of radioactive cesium and possibly strontium-90 were found in in locally grown coconut milk and the bodies of the islanders, who were then had to be evacuated from the atoll a second time. The American magazine, Consumer Reports, also warned of the contamination of milk with strontium-90 when the report came out.

Videos[]

Top_10_Most_Powerful_Nuclear_Bombs_In_History — Top 10 Most Powerful Nuclear Bombs In History

Top 10 Most Powerful Nuclear Bombs In History. Music - Resident Evil Movie Theme.

Castle_Bravo_-_Huge_thermonuclear_explosion — Castle Bravo - Huge thermonuclear explosion

The "Castle Bravo", Bikini Atoll, a Huge thermonuclear explosion.

"Castle_Bravo"_atomic_bomb_test — "Castle Bravo" atomic bomb test

The "Castle Bravo" atomic bomb test, ...yet so beautiful. it took place in 1954 near Marshall Islands.

Also see[]

Atomic accidents and disasters
A nuclear\atomic holocaust or nuclear apocalypse
Bikini Atoll
Nuclear fallout
Atomic accidents and disasters
Buster-Jangle Charlie