Operation NOUGAT and GNOME

Описание: DTRA's history begins with the Manhattan Project, which then split into the Atomic Energy Commission and the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project after WWII. The AFSWP became the Defense Atomic Support Agency in 1959; DASA became the Defense Nuclear Agency in 1971; DNA became the Defense Special Weapons Agency in 1996, and was one of the four agencies/programs that combined in 1998 to form the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. This film is about tests NOUGAT and GNOME. The majority of Operation Nougat’s nuclear tests were shaft or tunnel tests conducted at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for weapons development purposes. However, this series also included the beginning of the Plowshare Program nuclear tests -- a program to determine how nuclear energy could be used for civilian or peaceful purposes, and for the Vela Uniform Program nuclear tests -- a program for detecting nuclear explosions underground, using ground-based instruments for detecting explosions in outer space, and establishing satellite-based instruments for the detection of explosions in outer space.

Specifically, these scientists and engineers working on the GNOME test evaluated new seismic detectors which they hoped would lead to an underground test detection system. Earlier, different seismic measurement programs were conducted at the NTS by the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Air Force before becoming part of the Vela Uniform Program.

The GNOME test was fired 1200 feet underground in a salt bed formation near Carlsbad, NM, on December 10, 1961. There were 48 subsurface experiments involved, making GNOME the most heavily instrumented seismic test in history. This testing provided valuable data for both the Plowshare and Vela Uniform Programs.

Although GNOME was a Plowshare test, the Vela Uniform objective was to determine how the signals and effects of a 3-kiloton device detonated underground in salt beds differed from the outputs of detonations of different yields in other geologic formations. Scientists also wanted to compare the seismic signals from underground tests with that of earthquakes.

The Vela Uniform Program included seven tests conducted at several locations in the continental U.S. and Alaska between October 1963 and July 1971. These tests were SHOAL, SALMON, LONG SHOT, STERLING, SCROLL, DIAMOND DUST, and DIAMOND MINE.

Operation Nougat, conducted from September 15, 1961, to June 30, 1962, consisted of 45 on-continent underground tests, and all but GNOME were conducted at the NTS. The video discusses only some of the Nougat tests; however, the complete listing is provided for additional information.

The tests comprising the 1961-1962 Operation Nougat were as follows:

ANTLER, Sep 15, 1961, tunnel, 2.6 kt
SHREW, Sep 16, shaft, low yield (low yield = less than 20 kilotons)
BOOMER, Oct 1, shaft, low yield
CHENA, Oct 10, tunnel, low yield
MINK, Oct 29, shaft, low yield
FISHER Dec 3, shaft, 13.4 kt
GNOME, Dec 10, shaft, Plowshare, 3 kt
MAD, Dec 13, shaft, 500 tons
RINGTAIL, Dec 17, shaft, low yield
FEATHER, Dec 22, tunnel, 150 tons
STOAT, Jan 9, 1962, shaft, 5.1 kt
AGOUTI, Jan 18, shaft, 6.4 kt
DORMOUSE, Jan 30, shaft, low yield
STILLWATER, Feb 8, shaft, 3.07 kt
ARMADILLO, Feb 9, shaft, 7.1 kt
HARD HAT, Feb 15, shaft, effects, 5.7 kt
CHINCHILLA, Feb 19, shaft, 1.9 kt
CODSAW, Feb 19, shaft, low yield
CIMARRON, Feb 23, shaft, 11.9 kt
PLATYPUS, Feb 24, shaft, low yield
PAMPAS, Mar 1, shaft, joint US-UK, 9.5 kt
DANNY BOY, Mar 5, crater, effects, 430 tons
ERMINE, Mar 6, shaft, safety experiment, low yield
BRAZOS, Mar 8, shaft, 8.4 kt
HOGNOSE, Mar 15, shaft, low yield
HOOSIC, Mar 28, shaft, 3.4 kt
CHINCHILLA II, Mar 31, shaft, low yield
DORMOUSE PRIME, Apr 5, shaft, 10.6 kt
PASSAIC, Apr 6, shaft, low yield
HUDSON, Apr 12, shaft, low yield
PLATTE, Apr 14, tunnel, 1.85 kt
DEAD, Apr 21, shaft, low yield
BLACK, Apr 27, shaft, low yield
PACA, May 7, shaft, low yield
ARIKAREE, May 10, shaft, low yield
AARDVARK, May 12, shaft, 40 kt
EEL, May 19, shaft, 4.5 kt
WHITE, May 25, shaft, low yield
RACCOON, Jun 1, shaft, low yield
PACKRAT, Jun 6, shaft, low yield
DES MOINES, Jun 13, tunnel, 2.9 kt
DAMAN I, Jun 21, shaft, low yield
HAYMAKER, Jun 27, shaft, 67 kt
MARSHMALLOW, Jun 28, tunnel, weapons effects, low yield
SACRAMENTO, Jun 30, shaft, low yield