Airburst |
The explosion of a nuclear weapon at such a height that the expanding
fireball does not touch the earth's surface prior to the time
the fireball reaches its maximum luminosity. The airburst reported
in this document resulted from the detonation of a device fired
from a 280mm cannon. |
Airdrop |
A nuclear device dropped from an aircraft and exploded
in the atmosphere. |
Atmospheric |
A test conducted aboveground or above water; i.e.,
in the open air. |
Balloon |
A nuclear device suspended from a balloon and exploded
in the atmosphere. |
Barge |
A nuclear device exploded from a barge moored in
the lagoon at Enewetak or
Bikini. |
Crater |
A nuclear device placed shallow enough underground
to produce a throw-out
of earth when exploded. |
Detonation |
A single nuclear device explosion; one or more comprise
a test. |
Hole |
The alpha-numeric designation is given to the nuclear
weapon test/detonation
conducted at the Nevada Test Site. The uppercase alpha designator
refers to
the type of location, i.e., S = surface, U = underground. The numeric
designator refers to the geographical area of the Nevada Test Site.
The
remaining letters refer to the sequential ordering of the test/detonation.
In the
case of most atmospheric tests, only the geographical area of the
Nevada Test
Site is given. |
Joint US-UK |
A nuclear test conducted jointly by the United States
and the United Kingdom
under a cooperative agreement in effect between the two countries
since
August 4, 1958. |
kt |
A kiloton. The energy of a nuclear explosion that
is equivalent the explosive
power of 1,000 tons of TNT. |
Mt |
A megaton. The energy of a nuclear explosion that
is equivalent to the
explosive power of one million tons of TNT. |
NTS |
The Nevada Test Site is located in southern Nevada
in Nye County. It is
65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada and covers an area of
approximately 1,375 square miles. |
Offsite |
Offsite is any place outside the Test Range Complex. |
Onsite |
A notation that radioactivity was detected on site
only is made for any test from
which there was an unplanned release of radioactivity into the atmosphere
that
was not detectable beyond the boundaries of the Test Range Complex. |
Plowshare |
Application of nuclear explosives to develop peaceful
uses for atomic energy. |
Rocket |
A nuclear device launched by rocket and exploded
in the atmosphere. |
Roman Candle |
Test conducted underground in an unstemmed hole to
minimize, but not
eliminate, the release of radioactivity to the atmosphere. Because
incandescent gases were released, this was sometimes referred to
as a
"Roman candle" effect. |
Safety Experiment |
Experiment designed to confirm a nuclear explosion
will not occur in case of
an accidental detonation of the explosive associated with the device. |
Seismic Calibration |
A nuclear test to evaluate seismic effects of an
underground explosion. |
Shaft |
A nuclear device exploded at the bottom of a drilled
or mined vertical hole.
Some safety tests were set off at the bottom of unstemmed drilled
holes,
producing a "Roman candle" effect. |
Sponsor |
The organization(s), i.e., national weapons laboratory
or laboratories, the U.S.
Department of Defense and/or the United Kingdom, that is/are responsible
for
conducting a particular nuclear weapon test/detonation. |
Storage-Transportation |
Detonations of combinations of high explosives and
nuclear materials
designed to study distribution of nuclear materials during accidents
in several
transportation and storage configurations. |
Surface |
A nuclear device placed on or close to the earth's
surface. |
Surface Elevation |
The vertical distance from mean sea level to a point
on the earth’s surface,
generally refers to the surface ground zero of a nuclear weapon
test/
detonation. |
Test |
A test is defined in the Threshold Test Ban Treaty
as either a single
underground nuclear explosion conducted at a test site, or two or
more
underground nuclear explosions conducted within an area delineated
by a
circle having a diameter of two kilometers and conducted within
a total period
of time not to exceed 0.1 second. |
Test Range Complex |
An area that includes both the Nevada Test Site and
the adjacent
Government-controlled Nellis Air Force Range. |
Ton |
The yield of a nuclear device is a measure of the
amount of energy released
when it explodes. It is stated in terms of the quantity of TNT that
would
produce the same amount of explosive energy. A ton is equivalent
to one ton
of TNT. |
Thermonuclear Device |
Commonly referred to as a "hydrogen bomb;"
part of the explosion energy
results from the fusion of light nuclei such as those of hydrogen
isotopes. |
Tower |
A nuclear device mounted at the top of a steel or
wooden tower and exploded
in the atmosphere. |
Tunnel |
A nuclear device exploded at the end of a long horizontal
drift mined into a
mountain or mesa in a way that places the burst point deep within
the earth. |
Underground |
Underground nuclear test conducted in a tunnel or
at the bottom of a drilled
hole or shaft. Some underground nuclear tests were not designed
to contain
all radioactivity; e.g., cratering tests or safety experiments. |
Underwater |
A nuclear test conducted underwater. |
Vela Uniform |
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) program designed
to improve the
capability to detect, identify, and locate underground nuclear explosions. |
Verification Experiment |
A test on which the Russian government exercised
its right to verify under the
terms of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. |
Weapons Effects |
A nuclear test to evaluate the civil or military
effects of a nuclear detonation on
various targets, such as military hardware. |
Weapons Related |
A nuclear detonation conducted for the purpose of
testing a nuclear device
intended for a specific type of weapon system. |
Yield |
The total effective energy released in a nuclear
explosion. It is usually
expressed in terms of equivalent tonnage of TNT required to produce
the
same energy release in an explosion. |
