#Atomic bomb test site series

What is probably the most important study of the health effects of testing were announced by the National Cancer Institute in August of 1997, and released in October. This information has slowly come to light in bits and pieces over the last 20 years. But most information on this subject has been withheld, deliberated buried in obscure reports, or never collected (this is the principle of being careful not to learn what you don't want to know). Some exposure related incidents have been revealed due to the impossibility of hiding them: namely the high radiation exposures of the Marshallese and the Japanese aboard the Fifth Lucky Dragon after the Castle Bravo disaster. Partly this was motivated by military secrecy, partly by a desire to allay public fears (i.e public relations reasons), and partly by a fear of possible legal action by actual of potential victims.

Nuclear Testing and HealthĮver since nuclear testing began it has been very difficult to get a useful accounting of human exposures to the fallout from these tests.

#Atomic bomb test site series

These were a series of zero yield tests of plutonium dispersal conducted in 1963, known as Operation Roller Coaster. * There were actually a few surface tests included in the official testcount conducted after 4 November 1962. And of course, we can't have a gallery without pictures- andatmospheric tests are the only ones for which pictures exist. When the tests wentunderground, testing became routine, and information about what was being tested wentunderground too. When tests were exploded in theopen, everyone could collect data on what was being tested. The era of atmospheric testing is also theperiod for which the most information is available. During this period test series were grand operations, involving huge numbersof people, and each often with a set of clear objectives. nuclearweapons establishment came into being, when the major breakthroughs in weapon designoccurred, and when the most severe effects of nuclear testing were felt around theworld. These early years marked the height of the Cold War, when the U.S. These pages focus principally (although not exclusively) on the period from 16July 1945 to 4 November 1962, the era of atmospheric testing*. It is not clear whether all multiple device tests have yet been identified, and enumerated. Some devices that were tested failed to produce any noticeable explosion (some by design, some not), other 'tests' (byofficial definition) were actually multiple device detonations. The number of actualnuclear devices (aka 'bombs') tested, and nuclear explosions is largerthan this, but harder to establish precisely. Nuclear Tests Last changed 6 August 2001īetween 16 July 1945 and 23 September 1992 the United States of America conducted(by official count) 1054 nuclear tests, and two nuclear attacks.