Operation Tumbler Snapper 1952 : unclassified original

Operation Tumbler Snapper 1952 : unclassified original

Las Vegas, NV : U.S. DOE/Nevada Operations Office, 1952.

English

1 videocassette (47 min) : color ; 1/2 in. (VHS).

"The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Albuquerque Operatons Office, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), is committed to making available to the public historically significant films describing various aspects of the U.S. nuclear weapons development program. The process of declassifying these films is an ongoing task. The enclosed fact sheets provide information on each video."
Operation Tumbler- Snapper consisted of eight nuclear tests in two phases. The Tumbler phase was the airdrop nuclear weapons tests that were of primary concern to the Department of Defense. The Snapper phase was a set of experiments conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to help improve effects of nuclear weapons. Tests ABLE and BAKER produced weapons effects data. CHARLIE test was the first Nevada Proving Ground test to be observed by the news media who viewed the activities from "News Nob," about seven miles away. Also, approximately 2,000 Army personnel, including paratroopers, conducted maneuvers beneath the mushroom cloud. DOG test had Marines participating in the nuclear exercise. They loaded into their trucks and drove toward ground zero until intolerable radiation levels forced them to abort the mission. The EASY test provided scientists the opportunity to record photographically the birth of the blast measured in milliseconds. That is all the time scientists had before entire top of the tower was consumed by the fireball. The FOX test was observed by approximately 1,000 military observers from a distance of 7,000 yards. The soldiers were conducting radiation monitor training. A military display area filled with jeeps, tanks, machine guns, and artillery pieces was established almost under the detonation tower, and all of the hardware was demolished. The tests comprising the 1952 Operation Tumbler-Snapper were as follows: • ABLE, April 1, airdrop, weapons effects, 1 kiloton (kt) • BAKER, April 15, airdrop, weapons effects, 1 kt • CHARLIE, April 22, airdrop, weapons related, 31 kt • DOG, May 1, airdrop, weapons related, 19 kt • EASY, May 7, tower, weapons related, 12 kt • FOX, May 25, tower, weapons related, 11 kt • GEORGE, June 1, tower, weapons related, 15 kt • HOW, June 5, tower, weapons related, 14 kt

This is a declassified US Department of Energy video on the Ivy Flats project.

Electronic resource

Electronic resource