Fact
dina
Defense Nuclear Agency
S h eet
Subject:
AC 7
Public Affairs Office
Washington, D.C. 20305
SANDSTONE Fact Sheet
SANDSTONE was a three-detonation nuclear weapon test series held at Enewetak Atoll, the Atomic
Energy Commission's (AEC) Pacific Proving Ground (PPG), in the spring of 1948.
Located in
the Central Pacific Ocean, the PPG consisted principally of Enewetak* and Bikini atolls in
the northwestern Marshall Islands.
Assigned
Local
Date
Location
X-RAY
15 April
200-foot (6l-meter) tower on Enjebi Island
37
YOKE
1 May
200-foot (6l-meter) tower on Aomon Island
49
15 May
200-foot (6l-meter) tower on Runit Island
18
Name
ZEBRA
Yield
(KT)
Note:
One kiloton equals the approximate energy release of a one-thousand-ton TNT explosion.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Operation SANDSTONE was the second test series to be held in the Marshall Islands, but
it differed from the first series (CROSSROADS in 1946) in that it was primarily an AEC scien-
tific test series with the armed forces serving in a supporting role.
Its purpose was to
proof-test improved-design atomic weapons, whereas the purpose of CROSSROADS was to test
nuclear weapons effects on ships.
The weapons were tested at Enewetak by a joint military and civilian organization
designated Joint Task Force 7 (JTF 7).
This was a military organization in form, but
contained military, civil service, and contractor personnel of the Department of Defense
(DOD)
and the AEC.
The commander of this force was the appointed representative of the AEC
and reported to both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Commander in Chief, Pacific.
Peak DOD numerical strength at SANDSTONE was approximately as follows:
Uniformed military
DOD civilians
DOD contractors
9,890
350
126
10,366
* Formerly Eniwetok. A better understanding of the Marshall Islands language has permitted a
more accurate transliteration of Marshall Island names into English language spelling.