17 February 1983
Fact
dna
f_
ACSA OO
Defense Nuclear Agency
S h eet
Public Affairs Office
Washington, D.C. 20305
Operation IVY
IVY
was
an
atmospheric
nuclear
weapons
test
series
held
in
the
Atomic
Energy
Commission's {AEC) Pacific Proving Ground at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands during
autumn 1952.
The series consisted of the two detonations listed below.
Assigned
Name
Local
Date
MIKE
1 Nov
KING
16 Nov
Location
Yield@
Eluklab Island; surface
Airburst (1,480 feet
10.4 MT
440 meters )
over reef off Runit Island
500
KT
A0ne kiloton equals the approximate energy release of the explosion of one
thousand tons of TNT; one megaton equals the approximate energy release of
the explosion of one million tons of TNT.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
President Truman made the decision to pursue the development of thermonuclear weapons
in 1950, and the IVY series was a key step in this development. MIKE was an experimental
device and produced the first thermonuclear detonation, in which a substantial portion of
its energy was generated by the fusion, or joining, of hydrogen atoms.
KING was a
stockpile weapon, modified to produce a large yield.
It was dropped from a B-36 bomber.
The energy from KING was generated by the fission, or splitting, of plutonium atoms.
These were the largest nuclear explosions to that time.
JOINT TASK FORCE 132
Joint
Task
Force
132
(JTF 132)
series. Elements of the four
civilians
from
government
organization.
Commander JTF
designated the AEC's agent
was
the
organization
that conducted the
IVY test
services, the AEC and other Federal government agencies, and
laboratory
organizations
and
contractors made
up
this
132 reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but was also
in conducting the tests.
The joint nature of this test
organization resulted from the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946.
This
legislation placed atomic energy development under civilian control; however, the
remoteness
of the
IVY
Series
test
site
required
security and technical and logistical support.
a
military
organization
for
physical
The total number of personnel involved in the task force was nearly 11,650, of which
9,350 were military and 2,300 were civilians. Most of the civilians and over 6,600 of the
military personnel operated from Enewetak Atoll and from task force ships that were based