Bikini atomic experiments
Encyclopedia
The Bikini Atomic Experiments were a series of nuclear
and thermonuclear tests
conducted on Bikini Atoll
in the Bikini Islands. The experiments were part of the United States
' research into the full effects of the atomic bomb, including post-detonation radioactive fallout
. The first tests were conducted under the name Operation Crossroads
.
, Bikini Atoll was home to a small Japanese radar
installation . In 1945, the last year of fighting, the U.S. landed a small force to secure the site. The battle was brief and had no strategic significance. As the war ended, the United States decided that Bikini Atoll would be suitable for nuclear detonation tests, and shortly before Christmas
1945 it was selected to be the site of the world's fourth and fifth atomic bomb detonations. (Note that the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site
in New Mexico
, and the second and third bombs were dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki during World War II.) But before the bombs could be tested the government first had to find a home for the displaced natives on Bikini. The U.S. government promised the natives that they would have their island back in a couple of months.
To prepare the island and the atoll for testing the United States Naval Construction Battalion (better known as the Seabee
s) was flown in to help establish a credible base on the island. Several derelict tanks, bulldozers, and other military machinery were placed on the island to test the ability of such vehicles to withstand nuclear attack. The Air Force left 150 airplanes on the island's airstrip for testing purposes as well.
In addition to military equipment, the United States Navy moved 250 naval vessels to the atoll, including the Pennsylvania
, New York
, Arkansas
, Nevada
, Saratoga
, Independence
, Nagato
(a Japanese battleship
), and the Prinz Eugen
(a German cruiser
) to test the durability of ships to withstand a nuclear impact. Lab animals were also purchased and placed on several ships, and would later be tested for radiation poisoning
.
Back in the United States, the general public grew worried over the planned testing. Some people worried that the bomb's power would be felt all the way back in the United States. Others believed the bomb would create a hole in the earth. To help ease these fears, the Navy created several information packets and began broadcasting over "Radio Bikini" in an effort to calm the public's fears and rally support for the tests.
During the final preparation, the displaced islanders began to protest their move; however, they were unsuccessful in preventing the "shot."
," which was dropped on Nagasaki. The B-29 designated to drop Able was named "Dave's Dream," and on July 1, 1946, at about 8:45 AM, the first peacetime detonation of a nuclear ordnance occurred. Of the animals left on board the ships at anchor in Bikini Lagoon, approximately 10% died instantly. The Naval vessels managed to withstand the blast for the most part, but many were destroyed during Test "Baker" on July 25. In the coming years, some twenty additional bomb tests would be conducted before the United States government officially returned control of the islands over to their natives in 1957. The largest test, Castle Bravo
, also proved to be a large radiation fallout disaster: ashes from the explosion flew miles into inhabited islands, putting nuclear fallout into the public minds of many. The 1 March 1954 test exposed a Japanese fishing boat, Daigo Fukuryū Maru
, to radioactive fallout, resulting in 11 of the boat's 23 crewmembers dying from radiation sickness.
and Marshall Islands
in the Western Pacific; also some live in California
, and in Nevada
. The US Department of Energy, along with the representatives from the government of the Marshall Islands, sends scientists to the atoll for temporary stays to study the island's environment and measure residual levels of radiation. The researchers grow a small vegetable garden and send the produce to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
for testing. The US and Marshall Islands' governments still advise that nothing harvested from the island be eaten.
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
and thermonuclear tests
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
conducted on Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in the Bikini Islands. The experiments were part of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' research into the full effects of the atomic bomb, including post-detonation radioactive fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
. The first tests were conducted under the name Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
.
Preparation
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Bikini Atoll was home to a small Japanese radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
installation . In 1945, the last year of fighting, the U.S. landed a small force to secure the site. The battle was brief and had no strategic significance. As the war ended, the United States decided that Bikini Atoll would be suitable for nuclear detonation tests, and shortly before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
1945 it was selected to be the site of the world's fourth and fifth atomic bomb detonations. (Note that the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site
Trinity test
Trinity was the code name of the first test of a nuclear weapon. This test was conducted by the United States Army on July 16, 1945, in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, at the new White Sands Proving Ground, which incorporated the Alamogordo Bombing...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and the second and third bombs were dropped on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki during World War II.) But before the bombs could be tested the government first had to find a home for the displaced natives on Bikini. The U.S. government promised the natives that they would have their island back in a couple of months.
To prepare the island and the atoll for testing the United States Naval Construction Battalion (better known as the Seabee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
s) was flown in to help establish a credible base on the island. Several derelict tanks, bulldozers, and other military machinery were placed on the island to test the ability of such vehicles to withstand nuclear attack. The Air Force left 150 airplanes on the island's airstrip for testing purposes as well.
In addition to military equipment, the United States Navy moved 250 naval vessels to the atoll, including the Pennsylvania
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
USS Pennsylvania was a United States Navy super-dreadnought battleship. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania....
, New York
USS New York (BB-34)
USS New York was a United States Navy battleship, the lead ship of her class of two . She was the fifth ship to carry her name....
, Arkansas
USS Arkansas (BB-33)
USS Arkansas , a was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 25th state.A dreadnought battleship, Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 14 January 1911 sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise...
, Nevada
USS Nevada (BB-36)
USS Nevada , the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was...
, Saratoga
USS Saratoga (CV-3)
USS Saratoga was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the fifth ship to bear her name. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, , which is the third actually commissioned after and Saratoga...
, Independence
USS Independence (CVL-22)
The fourth USS Independence was a United States Navy light aircraft carrier, lead ship of her class.-Construction and deployment:...
, Nagato
Japanese battleship Nagato
Nagato was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy; the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch guns, her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.She was the flagship of Admiral...
(a Japanese battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
), and the Prinz Eugen
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
(a German cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
) to test the durability of ships to withstand a nuclear impact. Lab animals were also purchased and placed on several ships, and would later be tested for radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
.
Back in the United States, the general public grew worried over the planned testing. Some people worried that the bomb's power would be felt all the way back in the United States. Others believed the bomb would create a hole in the earth. To help ease these fears, the Navy created several information packets and began broadcasting over "Radio Bikini" in an effort to calm the public's fears and rally support for the tests.
During the final preparation, the displaced islanders began to protest their move; however, they were unsuccessful in preventing the "shot."
The Tests
The first atomic bomb to be detonated at Bikini was code-named "Able", a bomb similar in most respects to "Fat ManFat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
," which was dropped on Nagasaki. The B-29 designated to drop Able was named "Dave's Dream," and on July 1, 1946, at about 8:45 AM, the first peacetime detonation of a nuclear ordnance occurred. Of the animals left on board the ships at anchor in Bikini Lagoon, approximately 10% died instantly. The Naval vessels managed to withstand the blast for the most part, but many were destroyed during Test "Baker" on July 25. In the coming years, some twenty additional bomb tests would be conducted before the United States government officially returned control of the islands over to their natives in 1957. The largest test, Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, detonated on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as the first test of Operation Castle. Castle Bravo was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States ,...
, also proved to be a large radiation fallout disaster: ashes from the explosion flew miles into inhabited islands, putting nuclear fallout into the public minds of many. The 1 March 1954 test exposed a Japanese fishing boat, Daigo Fukuryū Maru
Daigo Fukuryu Maru
was a Japanese tuna fishing boat, which was exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test on Bikini Atoll, on 1 March 1954....
, to radioactive fallout, resulting in 11 of the boat's 23 crewmembers dying from radiation sickness.
The Aftermath
Shortly after the announcement that the islands were safe, a group of the native people left their makeshift home to return to Bikini, but were evacuated ten years later after some developed radiation poisoning from Cesium-137, including thyroid cancer, (some sources also state Strontium-90), a remnant of the radioactive fallout. As of 2009, the islands remain uninhabitable, and many of the displaced natives now reside in the CarolinesCaroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
and Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
in the Western Pacific; also some live in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The US Department of Energy, along with the representatives from the government of the Marshall Islands, sends scientists to the atoll for temporary stays to study the island's environment and measure residual levels of radiation. The researchers grow a small vegetable garden and send the produce to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
for testing. The US and Marshall Islands' governments still advise that nothing harvested from the island be eaten.