Castle Bravo Matt Reilly
Intro • The largest nuclear yield in any nuclear test in the United States ever. • The U.S. was not prepared for the effects of the bomb. • This bomb was one of the lightest at 23,500 lb, using an aluminum casing instead of a steel. • The fallout spread traces of radioactive material as far as Australia, India and Japan, and even the US and parts of Europe
The Location • The bomb was detonated on an artificial island on a reef called Bikini Atoll. • The blast was so powerful that about 6 hours after the explosion, ash began to sprinkle the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon which was 90 miles downwind of the burst point
When It Happened • 18:45:00.0 28 February 1954 (Greenwich Mean Time) 06:45:00.0 1 March 1954 (local) • Only eight minutes after the test, the cloud had reached its full dimensions with a diameter of 100 km and a cloud rising above 55,000 feet (16.5 km) • The nuclear fallout was worse than predicted because of the misinterpreted wind currents.
Data • This bomb was the most powerful ever that the united states detonated. • It was estimated to only give off as much as 4-8 Mt. It actually released 15 Mt of energy. • This was the first "dry" or solid fuel (lithium deuteride fueled) H-Bomb that the U.S. tested.
Why It Happened • The U.S. was in an arms race with the soviet union during the cold war.
Damage • The nuclear fallout destroyed the testing island and all the surrounding islands were covered by radiation and many were affected. • One of the sailors on the lucky dragon 4 died causing a diplomatic crisis with Japan
Aftermath • The United States had to abandon all other testing on this island and had to test them remotely on a barge. • All islands had to be abandoned and most still are
Prevention • We decided that these bombs were to powerful so we wanted to make sure that they were never used again.