New Delhi: On November 6, 1971, an underground nuclear test shook the Amchitka island in Alaska. The name of the test was Cannikin and the United States Atomic Energy Commission executed it. The nuclear test was part of Operation Grommet and its explosive yield was almost 5 megatons of TNT. The test remains the largest underground explosion that the US ever detonated.
Why was Amchitka Island chosen for the nuclear test?
The Cannikin test was immensely huge and it was clear that it could not be safely conducted at the Nevada Test Site. In the 1950s, Amchitka, a volcanic, tectonically unstable and uninhabited island in Alaska was considered a potential nuclear test site, but back then it was thought to be not suitable for the cause.
In 1965, Long Shot, a single nuclear test was conducted on the Amchitka for seismic test detection development. The island was again probed as a site for atmospheric nuclear tests for intercontinental ballistic missile silo design in the 1960s, but it was abandoned due to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
How was the preparation for the nuclear test?
It took five years to prepare for the test and hundreds of staff were involved. Before the 1971 test, a much smaller test was done on the island on October 2, 1969, for calibration purposes. The test was called Milrow. In August 1967, the drilling for the shaft of the Cannikin test began. For the test, 400 tons of equipment were placed in a shaft which was 6,150 feet deep and 90 inches wide.
However, the Cannikin test attracted protest and opposition, and a result of that was the formation of the Greenpeace. In 1964, Alaska was hit by an earthquake and the Cannikin raised concerns that it might cause earthquakes and a tsunami.
The test and 400 times the Hiroshima Bomb
On November 6, 1971, Cannikin was detonated. The yield was 5 megatons, the largest underground nuclear test in the history of the US. The explosive force lifted the ground 20 feet and the force was almost 400 times the Hiroshima bomb’s power. It created a lake which was several hundred meters wide and on the Richter scale, a seismic shock of 7.0 was recorded. A number of small tectonic events occurred but there was no massive earthquake or tsunami.
The nuclear test was part of Operation Grommet and its explosive yield was almost 5 megatons of TNT. The test remains the largest underground explosion that the US ever detonated. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
