PART II
9. THE 1957 NEVADA TEST SERTES
July 15, 1957
The Purpose
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In announcing plans for conducting a 1957 Test Series at the
Nevada Test Site (January 25, 1957) the Atomic Energy Commission
declared:
"The program of tests is aimed to attain new knowledge important
to the defense of the United States and the Free World, which must
be maintained pending ultimate attainment of international agreement
on safeguarded disarmament. The development of weapons for defense
against attack is a major objective. Studies of weapons effects will
also be contimed in order to improve military and civil defense
against nuclear attack,"
Extent of Program
More detonations have been scheduled for the 1957 series (known
as Operation Plumbbob) than for any previous Nevada series. The
exact number is not yet known and will depend on test results. It
is possible that shots will be deleted or added because of the results
of experiments previously conducted during the series.
The following total of shots will have been held or announced by
the date of this revision: seven tower shots to which newsmen are
being admitted, plus two additional tower shots;
two balloon suspension
shots to which newsmen are being admitted, plus three already fired;
an air-to-air rocket test; and an underground tunnel placement. These
add up to 16, which is more than the total of 14 shots fired in the
spring 1955 series,
Each experimental shot ordinarily includes five or more key
experiments and perhaps up to 75 or 80 experiments.
The maximm
number of experiments to be connected with the sequence timer in
anyone test in this series is 66, A shot is fired only if there
is good assurance that key experiments will obtain the desired data.
The degigned yield of the Hood shot on July 5, 1957, exceeded
the designed yield of the final detonation of the spring 1953 series,
which was the largest in explosive force previously fired in Nevada.
Like the final 1953 burst which was an air drop detonated well above
ground level, the Hood shot, which was fired at 1500 feet suspended
from a balloon, resulted only in very low level fallout in the region
near the Nevada Test Site,
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