-2It should also be noted that the testing of weapons is important
likewise in order to be fully aware of the possible, future, aggressive
ability of an enemy for we now fully know that we possess no monopoly
of capability in this awesome field,
Now as to this specific test series.
The first shot has Seen
variously described as "devastating", ‘out of control", and with
other exaggerated and mistaken characterizations, I would not wish
to minimize it, It was a very large blast but at no time was the testing
out of control, The misapprehension seems to have arisen due to two
facts, First, that the yield was about double that of the calculated
estimate -- a margin of error not incompatible with a totally new weapon,
(The range of guesses on the first A bomb covered a relatively far wider
spectrum.) Second, because of the results of the ''fall-out,'"'
When a large explosion occurs on or within a certain distance of
the ground, an amount of earth or water or whatever is beneath the
center of the explosion is sucked up into the air. The heavy particles
fall out quickly, The lighter ones are borne away in the direction of
the wind until they too settle out, If the explosion is a nuclear one, many
of these particles are radioactive as are the vaporized parts of the
weapon itself,
For this reason the Atomic Energy Commission has conducted the
tests of its larger weapons away from the mainland so that the fall-out
would occur in the ocean where it would be quickly dissipated both by
dilution and by the rapid decay of most of the radioactivity which is of fo"
short duration. The Marshall Islands were selected for the site of the
first large-scale tests -- Operation Crossroads -- for reasons which
will be apparent from the maps which | shall show you, The late
Admiral W.H.P. Blandy, under whomI had the privilege of serving,
selected the Bikini site,
REPRODUCED AT THE DWIGHT D.
EISENHOWER LIBRARY
The Marshall Islands during the months of February, March, and
April are usually favored by winds which would blow away from any
inhabited atolls, The two atolls of Bikini and Eniwetok were chosen as
the base for these operations, Each of these atolls is a large necklace
of coral reef surrounding a lagoon two to three hundreds of square
miles in area, and at various points on the reef like beads ona string
appear a multitude of little islands, scme a few score acres in extent -others no more than sandspits,
It is these small, uninhabited, treeless
sand bars which are used for the experiments, Asa matter of fact, the
Task Force dredged up enough sand and coral to build one of these
so-called islands to have it where it was wanted most advantageously
for shot number one, The impression that an entire atoll or even
large islands have been destroyed in these tests is erroneous, It
would be more accurate to say a large sandspit or reef,
Before the shot takes place, there is a careful survey of the
winds at all elevations up to many thousands of feet. This Survey is
conducted by weather stations on islands and on fleet units at widely
separated points.
Contrary to general belief, winds do not blow in
only one direction at a given time and place, At various heizhts above
the earth, winds are found to be blowiny frequently in opposite directions
and at greatly varying speeds. An atomic cloud is therefore sheared
by these winds as it rises through them,
The meteorologists attempt
to forecast the wind direction for the optimum condition and the Task
Force Commander thereupon decides on the basis of the weather reports
when the test shall be made. The weather forecast is necessarily longrange because a warning area must be searched for shippinz and the
search which is carried out both visually and by radar in P2V Navy planes
requires a day or more to complete,
more