experts on the hazards and effects of radiation as well as with analyses
of the data captured by the radiation monitoring network.
To provide
the scientific foundation for data gleaned from the monitoring network,
the division supervised several research programs which investigated
‘radiation effects.
The division gave the Commission advice on the
effects of
for
fallout
atmospheric
and
later
for wndergroumd
test
series.
In November
1952, the Commission successfully tested a themmo-
muclear device in the Pacific Ivy series, called Mike.
The experimental
device produced a blast of 10.4 megatons, more than 500 times larger
than the Trinty shot.
Mike was so powerful that the explosion which
blew the island of Elugelab from the face of the earth could be seen
hundreds of miles away.
21
The world had entered the thermonuclear age,
but the Commission had yet to create a deliverable thermonuclear weapon.
Producing Nuclear Weapons
The Commission's testing program was only one part of the nuclear
weapon program.
The Commission also established
systematic weapon
research and development, and built plants to produce enriched urani=,
plutonium, and’ nonnuclear weapon camponents.
On March 21, 1953, che
Commission and the Department of Defense signed an agreement whic
Gelineated their roles in building nuclear weapons.
The Cammissicn
would develop and produce weapons to military specifications established
by the Defense
Department.
Since
1953
nuclear weapons have
2¢en
Geveloped and produced jointl. under this agreement. “7
The
Commission
campleted
plants ahead of schedule.
the
fissionable
materials
procucticn
The first two Savannah River reactors Decan
production in 1953 and the other three started up a year later.
2,