It was detonated on March 26, 1954, at Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands, on a barge moored in the middle of the crater from the Castle Bravo test. It was the first such barge-based test, a necessity that had come about because the powerful thermonuclear devices obliterated the small islands following detonation.
The tested design became the first air-droppable thermonuclear device, initially the "emergency capability" EC-17, of which only five were made. The first deployable staged radiation implosion Teller-Ulam thermonuclear weapon evolved into the Mark 17, of which 200 were made. Both of those were huge devices, weighing 39,000 pounds (18 t) and 42,000 pounds (19 t) respectively. As a result, only the B-36 was capable of carrying that first generation of thermonuclear bombs. They were also some of the largest yield devices deployed by Strategic Air Command — the EC-17 producing around 10 megatonnes (Mt), and the Mk 17 between 11 and 15 Mt. They were all out of service by August 1957.
Similar to the Shrimp TX-21 device tested before in the Castle Bravo test, it differed from that device in using lithium deuteride derived from natural lithium (a mixture of 7.5% lithium-6 and 92.5% lithium-7isotopes) as the source of the tritium and deuterium fusion fuels, as opposed to the relative high enrichment level of lithium (approximately 40% lithium-6) deuteride used in Bravo.
Yield
Like the Bravo test, it produced far more than its predicted yield, and for the same reason — an unexpected participation of the common lithium-7 isotope in fusion reactions. Although it had been predicted to produce a yield of 4 megatons with a range of 1.5 to 7 megatons (before the results of the Bravo test caused an upgrade in the estimates, it had originally been estimated to produce 3–5 megatons), it actually produced a yield of 11 megatons, the third-largest test ever conducted by the U.S.
Like the Ivy Mike and Castle Bravo tests, a large percentage of the yield was produced by fast fission of the natural uranium"tamper"; 7 megatons of the yield were from this source.
Fireball in popular culture
Iconic image of the Castle Romeo mushroom cloud
One particular image of the Castle Romeo fireball has been one of the most highly reprinted images of a nuclear explosion. It often serves as a stand-in for nuclear weapons in general for news stories, book covers, magazine articles, etc., likely because of its threatening appearance and extreme red, orange, and yellow hues. The fact that the explosion is of a U.S. megaton-range weapon has not prevented it from being used to represent the arsenals of other states or weapons of far lower yields in many cases, which would have a very different appearance.
The Castle Romeo photos are sometimes confused with that of Castle Bravo. The two nuclear blasts looked very similar, and they were both conducted in the same location, but much of Bravo's photographic record was destroyed because of its unexpectedly high yield.
References
Chuck Hansen, U. S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (Arlington: AeroFax, 1988)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castle Romeo.
List of all tested U.S. weapons at The Nuclear Weapon Archive
The short film Operation Castle Commanders Report (1954) is available for free download at the Internet Archive.
The short film Military Effects Studies Operation Castle (1954) is available for free download at the Internet Archive.
The short film Nuclear Test Film - Operation Castle (1954) is available for free download at the Internet Archive.
castle, romeo, code, name, given, tests, operation, castle, series, nuclear, tests, first, test, thermonuclear, weapon, first, deployed, thermonuclear, bomb, mushroom, cloudinformationcountryunited, statestest, seriesoperation, castletest, sitebikini, atolldat. Castle Romeo was the code name given to one of the tests in the Operation Castle series of U S nuclear tests It was the first test of the TX 17 thermonuclear weapon the first deployed thermonuclear bomb Castle RomeoCastle Romeo mushroom cloudInformationCountryUnited StatesTest seriesOperation CastleTest siteBikini AtollDateMarch 26 1954 68 years ago 1954 03 26 Test typeAtmosphericYield11 MtTest chronology Castle BravoCastle Koon It was detonated on March 26 1954 at Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands on a barge moored in the middle of the crater from the Castle Bravo test It was the first such barge based test a necessity that had come about because the powerful thermonuclear devices obliterated the small islands following detonation Contents 1 Deployment 2 Design 3 Yield 4 Fireball in popular culture 5 References 6 External linksDeployment EditThe tested design became the first air droppable thermonuclear device initially the emergency capability EC 17 of which only five were made The first deployable staged radiation implosion Teller Ulam thermonuclear weapon evolved into the Mark 17 of which 200 were made Both of those were huge devices weighing 39 000 pounds 18 t and 42 000 pounds 19 t respectively As a result only the B 36 was capable of carrying that first generation of thermonuclear bombs They were also some of the largest yield devices deployed by Strategic Air Command the EC 17 producing around 10 megatonnes Mt and the Mk 17 between 11 and 15 Mt They were all out of service by August 1957 Design Edit The Runt device The Runt TX 15 device was a weaponized dry fusion bomb using lithium deuteride fuel for the fusion stage of a staged fusion bomb unlike the cryogenic liquid deuterium of the first generation Ivy Mike fusion device Similar to the Shrimp TX 21 device tested before in the Castle Bravo test it differed from that device in using lithium deuteride derived from natural lithium a mixture of 7 5 lithium 6 and 92 5 lithium 7 isotopes as the source of the tritium and deuterium fusion fuels as opposed to the relative high enrichment level of lithium approximately 40 lithium 6 deuteride used in Bravo Yield EditLike the Bravo test it produced far more than its predicted yield and for the same reason an unexpected participation of the common lithium 7 isotope in fusion reactions Although it had been predicted to produce a yield of 4 megatons with a range of 1 5 to 7 megatons before the results of the Bravo test caused an upgrade in the estimates it had originally been estimated to produce 3 5 megatons it actually produced a yield of 11 megatons the third largest test ever conducted by the U S Like the Ivy Mike and Castle Bravo tests a large percentage of the yield was produced by fast fission of the natural uranium tamper 7 megatons of the yield were from this source Fireball in popular culture Edit Iconic image of the Castle Romeo mushroom cloud One particular image of the Castle Romeo fireball has been one of the most highly reprinted images of a nuclear explosion It often serves as a stand in for nuclear weapons in general for news stories book covers magazine articles etc likely because of its threatening appearance and extreme red orange and yellow hues The fact that the explosion is of a U S megaton range weapon has not prevented it from being used to represent the arsenals of other states or weapons of far lower yields in many cases which would have a very different appearance One prominent usage is as the backdrop for heavy metal band Megadeth s greatest hits compilation Greatest Hits Back to the Start The image of Castle Romeo was also used on the cover of the New York hardcore music pioneers Cro Mags debut album The Age of Quarrel It is also featured on the title screen of Team17 s turn based artillery game Worms Armageddon The Castle Romeo photos are sometimes confused with that of Castle Bravo The two nuclear blasts looked very similar and they were both conducted in the same location but much of Bravo s photographic record was destroyed because of its unexpectedly high yield References EditChuck Hansen U S Nuclear Weapons The Secret History Arlington AeroFax 1988 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castle Romeo List of all tested U S weapons at The Nuclear Weapon Archive The short film Operation Castle Commanders Report 1954 is available for free download at the Internet Archive The short film Military Effects Studies Operation Castle 1954 is available for free download at the Internet Archive The short film Nuclear Test Film Operation Castle 1954 is available for free download at the Internet Archive Operation CastleCoordinates 11 41 50 N 165 16 19 E 11 69722 N 165 27194 E 11 69722 165 27194 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Castle Romeo amp oldid 1094567396, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
