This test, called “Cannikin”, was conducted on the remote island of Amchitka in Alaska. LIM-49 Spartan anti-ballistic missile It was intended to test a warhead design for a W71 explosive weapon

The test was carried out despite the opposition of various committees, associations and the public to the explosion. It had serious consequences indeed. You’ll soon be able to watch the moment of the explosion below. Cannikin test Let’s get into the details.

Before the 1971 explosion, there were two explosions in the same region.

In 1965, scientists and seismologists explored the underground part of Amchitka Island to see if other countries were conducting underground nuclear tests. An 80 kiloton nuclear explosion made.

A repeat test was performed in 1969. The purpose of this test is to detect larger surfaces how their explosions could damage the island, It was to understand how it could cause seismic activity or create a tsunami.

The Cannikin test was heavily criticized before it was implemented.

The environmental group, which is the main implementer of the campaign, Green Peace. Their actions against Cannikin later turned them into an organization.

The test caused earthquakes following the 1964 Alaska earthquake. can cause a tsunami was also considered. The protest, attended by 7,000 people, closed the US-Canada border gate.

In July 1971, the Committee Against Nuclear Liability appealed to the Atomic Energy Commission. He filed a lawsuit demanding that the experiment be prevented. but he lost. The test would indeed be done.

The explosion had the potential to be 250 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Equivalent to almost 5 megatons of TNT explosive and The experiment, which took five years to prepare, It would be the largest underground explosion ever detonated by the United States.

Hundreds of employees from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory participated in the tests. To perform the test 400 tons of equipment, A well with a depth of 1,807 meters and a width of 2.3 meters was used.

supporting equipment, To withstand a 4.6 meter earthquake It was designed. James R. Schlesinger, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, brought his wife and daughters to the region to demonstrate the experiment’s safety.

Here you can see that huge explosion from the 35th second:

Radioactivity on the island and its surroundings; It seeped into the ocean, groundwater and air. In fact, it keeps leaking. In addition, spaces filled with rubble were created underground. Thousands bird and otter died.

We may find radioactive particles in freshwater samples taken from the Bering Sea in America, but the US Department of Energy denies this. The island of Amchitka is no longer used for nuclear explosions.

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