Posted on 08/04/2015 5:38:33 AM PDT by billorites
On July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert. The test, code-named “Trinity,” was a success, unleashing an explosion with the energy of about 20 kilotons of TNT and beginning the nuclear age. Since then, nearly 2,000 nuclear tests have been performed. Most of these took place during the 1960s and 1970s. When the technology was new, tests were frequent and often spectacular, and they led to the development of newer, more deadly weapons. Since the 1990s, there have been efforts to limit the testing of nuclear weapons, including a U.S. moratorium and a U.N. comprehensive test ban treaty. As a result, testing has slowed—though not halted—and there are looming questions about who will take over for those experienced engineers who are now near retirement. Gathered here are images from the first 30 years of nuclear testing. (A version of this article first ran here in 2011.)
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I’m of two minds regarding the testing.
I don’t doubt it’s necessity or strategic importance.
OTOH, exposing large swaths of the continental U.S. to radioactive fallout over decades seems a bit irresponsible in retrospect. Seems at some point in the 50s or early 60s, they should have realized how dangerous it was.
But judging the actions of those in the past by the standards of the present is rarely useful. The thousands of people, both civilian and military, who devoted their lives to the development, testing and refinement of this technology are pioneers and often unsung heroes.
No one can really say for certain how the world would be without the bomb, but it seems likely it would be far worse off if the U.S. wasn’t the first to develop and perfect it.
awesome link. lots of pics I’ve never seen before. a fascinating and scary time in history.
That photo of the air-to-air nuke test is definitely one I hadn’t previously seen. Some of the mannequin pics, too.
There are several “Civil Defense” oriented videos on YouTube about the mannequin tests that were done. They are kind of tedious and kind of surreal in that way that very early 50’s government films were.
One of my favorite films is “Trinity and Beyond”. Some very cool photography there.
Near where the bombs were tested, the John Wayne movie “The Conqueror” was shot. Nearly everyone involved in that production developed some form of cancer later in life.
Those benches are still standing, just beside the road that leads from Mercury to Frenchman’s Flat.
I think the lesson of history is quite clear; rival empires will eventually go to war with one another.
With out the fear of nuclear annihilation the USSR and the USA would have gone to war.
The existence of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them rapidly and effectively prevented another even more bloody global war following WW II. The overwhelming presence of the BOMB made the USSR and USA limit their hostilities to proxy wars like Afghanistan.
However that era seems to be ending with bit players on the global stage like Iran being permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. Petty dictators like Iran's Imam having access to nuclear weapons could be the end of civilization.
People with no respect for human life having the power to end human lives by the millions is too scary to contemplate. And the fact that our national leadership having the ability to prevent it and standing idly by and doing nothing is incredibly frustrating.
That's Nukyulur!
US tests went underground in 1963. Granted some vented, but the release was nowhere near atmospheric tests.
Yes, parts of many of those films were used to good effect in "The Atomic Café", a 1980s semi-documentary on the subject. Certainly pacifist in intent and likely prompted by scary ol' President Reagan, the film stitches together surreal informational government film footage, scenes of the test shots and plenty of dark humor. The History Channel used to show it every year around this time.
Yes...G*d help us if we did not get our obligatory dose of atomic-bomb-guilt noogies early August every year so that we can repeat those same settled discussions yet again.
Indeed. Reading through that film’s comments on Amazon gives me a smile, because most are praising the cool old footage and photos. The hand-wringing goes mostly ignored, so it looks like the guilt trip didn’t “stick”.
Bikini Atoll is so radiated that people vacation and scuba dive there:
http://www.diveadventures.com/pages/destinations/Micronesia/bikini_lagoon.htm
People actually live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Look up the photos of the modern cities. All that radiation fear is overblown. Look up radiation hormesis when you get a chance.
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