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May, 1945.
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The hot New Mexico desert
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seemed far from the
ravages of war in Europe.
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00:02:12,685 --> 00:02:14,899
100 tons of TNT.
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00:02:15,085 --> 00:02:16,145
A rehearsal,
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to scale and calibrate the power
of an untested atomic weapon.
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00:02:26,885 --> 00:02:28,385
Two months from this day,
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Man would unleash the destructive power
of a demon locked within
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the very fabric of matter,
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00:02:34,385 --> 00:02:37,799
and plunge the world
in the Atomic Age.
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For the next 20 years,
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testing the power of
the atomic bomb
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00:02:52,523 --> 00:02:57,119
would hold the world captive
by events shrouded in secrecy.
14
00:03:03,885 --> 00:03:08,885
Events set into motion
seven years earlier.
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March, 1938.
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Hitler invades Austria.
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The Third Reich begins to flex
its military muscle.
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00:03:27,260 --> 00:03:30,011
Later that year,
German scientists
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00:03:30,071 --> 00:03:32,886
discover fission
of the uranium nucleus
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00:03:32,935 --> 00:03:35,302
bringing the Third Reich
one step closer to
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00:03:35,338 --> 00:03:38,085
discovering the secret
of the atomic bomb.
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Fear of German research
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stimulated activity in
the United States and England.
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Fear that German scientists
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could produce weapons
of great devastation.
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In the fall of 1939,
Dr. Albert Einstein
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wrote his now-famous letter
to President Roosevelt,
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explaining the urgency of work
on uranium fission.
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00:04:00,242 --> 00:04:04,002
Roosevelt, a man of action,
moved swiftly.
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00:04:04,036 --> 00:04:06,785
An advisory committee
on uranium was appointed.
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German forces invade Poland,
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plunging the nations of Europe
into a second World War.
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A new branch of the Army's Corps of Engineers
was established to administer work
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on military uses of uranium.
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Major General Leslie R. Groves,
the man in responsible for the Pentagon,
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was placed in charge
of the project.
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00:04:35,264 --> 00:04:40,494
On December 2, the first
self-sustaining chain-reacting pile
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00:04:40,495 --> 00:04:43,285
was successfully operated by Enrico Fermi.
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Fermi's success brought intense efforts
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between government
and the private sector,
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creating huge industries
for uranium separation
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in the town of Oakridge, Tennessee,
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and for the production of plutonium
in Hanford, Washington
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00:04:59,396 --> 00:05:02,885
at the shores
of the mighty Columbia River.
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This tremendous effort
forged the materials necessary
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for creating an atomic bomb.
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00:05:10,085 --> 00:05:13,720
The first atomic bomb
was assembled at Los Alamos,
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a secret laboratory in New Mexico.
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00:05:16,932 --> 00:05:20,963
When Dr. J.R. Oppenheimer
arrived to take charge,
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he began to surround himself with a galaxy
of outstanding scientific stars.
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From Los Alamos came the bomb design,
and treatment of
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00:05:30,127 --> 00:05:32,318
many theoretical problems.
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00:05:32,367 --> 00:05:36,294
Yet many questions still remain unanswered.
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What are the secrets of this new
source of power and destruction?
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00:05:40,097 --> 00:05:43,458
Knowledge and information on
all aspects of this new weapon
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are essential,
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and can only be discovered
by further testing.
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00:05:51,485 --> 00:05:56,885
I had a very good friend, a Hungarian
10 years older than I, Le� Szil�rd.
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He had a very independent mind,
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and a great feeling what is coming.
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He saw years ahead
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that nuclear explosives would become important.
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He was a friend, and I helped him.
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For instance, I drove him to
an important interview with Einstein
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where Einstein wrote the
famous letter to Roosevelt.
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That started things going.
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I myself was interested in theoretical physics,
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in explaining atoms, molecular vibrations,
knowledge, and more knowledge.
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I didn't want to do it. But then...
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Hitler not only swallowed up
half of Poland,
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he invaded the West.
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And two days later, there was
an invitation to a Pan-American Congress
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where Roosevelt, whom I had never
seen before, was going to speak.
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And he made a remarkable speech,
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how the world is really endangered by Hitler.
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Among other things,
and at the climax, he said:
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"You scientists are blamed
for the weapons to be used.
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But I tell you,
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that if you now won't work on weapons,
the freedom of the world will be lost."
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Now, you know, I had the feeling
that Roosevelt was talking to me.
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I was there when the letter was signed
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that awoke his interest
in nuclear energy.
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I thought I knew he was talking about
nuclear energy.
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Of the 2,000 scientists there,
I felt he was talking to me.
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Of course, not true,
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but in that twenty-minutes' talk,
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my mind was made up.
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I continued to like better
to work on pure science,
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00:08:03,595 --> 00:08:06,099
but this had to be done.
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00:08:06,149 --> 00:08:08,462
And as long as it had to be done,
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and I could contribute, I did,
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and was never sorry for having done it.
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The uranium-gun weapon,
or "Little Boy" bomb,
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was a simple design,
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00:08:20,946 --> 00:08:24,563
and scientists were confident
it would work without testing.
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The "Fat Man," or implosion bomb,
was a more efficient design,
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using plutonium instead of uranium.
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Inside the very center of the bomb
was an initiator
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surrounded by a sphere of plutonium.
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This sphere was encased
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within a set of symetrically-located,
high-explosive lenses
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creating an implosion
which forced the plutonium
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into itself, attaining critical mass.
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The blast instantly raised temperatures
to 10 million degrees,
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releasing a force of a
million pounds of pressure,
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vaporizing the tower and all
desert life within half a mile.
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The intensity of light was sufficient
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to cause temporary blindness
to an observer ten miles away.
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With a yield 200 times greater
than the hundred-ton test,
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the fireball created a crater
nearly one half-mile across,
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And fused the desert sand
into a green glass
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still containing traces of radioactivity
fifty years later.
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00:10:24,985 --> 00:10:28,825
Pearl Harbor plunged
the United States into war.
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For three years, gathering
momentum with each small victory,
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our forces had conducted an offensive
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against the war-bloated
Empire of the Rising Sun.
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Slowly, island by island,
mile by mile,
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and then, with ever-quickening sweeps,
the combined land, sea, and air forces of the Allies
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drove against the borders of that empire,
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forcing it back, until late in 1945,
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00:10:54,724 --> 00:10:58,969
only the bastions of the Japanese
home islands remained to be stormed.
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00:11:08,485 --> 00:11:10,744
Ahead lay the greatest campaign of all:
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invasion of Japanese homeland,
and close-in, desperate fighting.
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That this fanatical enemy would not quit
until her last fighting man
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had been driven from his cave and killed
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had been established time and again
by bitter experience.
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00:14:08,885 --> 00:14:12,092
The uranium-gun weapon, or "Little Boy" bomb,
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00:14:12,161 --> 00:14:16,513
was detonated over Hiroshima at
an altitude of 1,800 feet,
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the height to achieve maximum blast effect.
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00:14:19,885 --> 00:14:23,083
Three days later, the "Fat Man"
implosion bomb
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was detonated over Nagasaki.
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00:14:32,974 --> 00:14:37,485
In Hiroshima, 70,000 people were killed
or listed as missing.
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00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:42,581
Of its 90,000 buildings,
over 60,000 were demolished.
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00:14:43,753 --> 00:14:48,397
The implosion bomb dropped on
Nagasaki took the lives of 42,000 people,
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and injured 40,000 more.
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00:14:52,637 --> 00:14:55,871
It destroyed 39% of all the
buildings in the city.
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With a yield of 20 kilotons,
similar to that of Trinity,
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this weapon would be considered
a nominal atomic bomb,
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and provide a blueprint for all
future nuclear weapons.
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But the principal targets are naval ships.
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We are seeking primarily to learn
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What types of ships, tactical formations,
and strategic dispositions
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of our own naval forces
will best survive
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attacks by atomic weapons,
should we ever have to face them.
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Eleven months after the bombing
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
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Operation Crossroads was conducted
at Bikini Atoll,
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2,500 miles west of Hawaii.
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The purpose of Crossroads
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was to test the effects of atomic weapons
using two devices,
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similar in design to Trinity and Nagasaki,
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Code-named Able and Baker.
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Shot Able to be dropped from a B-29,
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while Shot Baker would be detonated
90 feet below the surface of the water.
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The target armada consisted of 185
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Japanese, German, and American ships,
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ranging from small amphibious craft
to battleships and aircraft carriers.
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The bomb will not start a chain reaction
in the water,
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converting it all to gas,
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and letting all the ships on all the oceans
drop down to the bottom.
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It will not blow out the bottom of the sea
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and let all the water run down the hole.
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It will not destroy gravity.
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I am not an "atomic playboy,"
as one of my critics labelled me,
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exploding these bombs to satisfy
my personal whim.
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Animals, plant life, even biological
warfare agents were assembled
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to study the effects of heat,
blast, and radiation.
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The bomb missed its intended target
by nearly 800 yards.
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The blast sent five ships,
including two destroyers,
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to the bottom of Bikini lagoon.
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00:19:04,045 --> 00:19:07,823
All ships within a half a mile of the blast
were heavily damaged.
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But the damage was nowhere near that
created by the following
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underwater blast, known as Shot Baker.
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Five, four, three, two, one...
Fire.
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Bikini Baker was an underwater burst
of the same device,
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and it produced much more damage
to the armada of seventy ships.
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For instance, the USS Saratoga
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had the bottom of it essentially
knocked out of it from the underwater burst.
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The Saratoga sank and sets upright
at the bottom of the Bikini lagoon at the present time.
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I've often flown over Bikini lagoon,
and on clear days, when the water is quiet,
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you can still see the Saratoga setting there.
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The area surrounding Shot Baker
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had become seriously radioactive,
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and could not be safely
approached for some time.
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00:22:00,679 --> 00:22:03,483
This effect was not anticipated,
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and ultimately led to a decision
by President Truman
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to call off a third deep underwater test,
code-named Charlie.
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This is the mile-high city of
Los Alamos,
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The Atomic City.
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This is a modern pueblo, created by
the people of the United States
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00:23:41,979 --> 00:23:45,598
as a research and development center
for atomic weapons.
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00:23:47,464 --> 00:23:50,612
Since Eniwetok is a distant
and primitive area,
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00:23:50,700 --> 00:23:53,435
men have to leave their stateside
laboratories and homes
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00:23:53,493 --> 00:23:55,209
for a period running into months.
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00:23:55,307 --> 00:23:58,778
Since 1943, when
Los Alamos was established,
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00:23:58,867 --> 00:24:02,656
men from this mesa have left the
continental limits of the United States
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00:24:02,725 --> 00:24:04,862
to test the weapons they have created.
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00:24:05,246 --> 00:24:07,714
Two years after Crossroads,
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00:24:07,797 --> 00:24:10,213
authority was given by President Truman
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00:24:10,261 --> 00:24:12,766
to proceed with Operation Sandstone.
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While the purpose of Crossroads
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00:24:15,521 --> 00:24:18,190
had been to test the effects of atomic weapons,
214
00:24:18,287 --> 00:24:22,575
Sandstone's objective was to test
new weapon designs.
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00:24:22,650 --> 00:24:25,664
Planning for such weapons had begun
many years earlier,
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00:24:25,737 --> 00:24:27,463
when the scientists on Trinity
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00:24:27,531 --> 00:24:31,228
had developed other experimental designs
for atomic weapons,
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00:24:31,307 --> 00:24:32,685
but were unsure of their success.
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00:24:36,425 --> 00:24:40,045
A joint task force was created
to head out once again to the Pacific,
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00:24:40,110 --> 00:24:44,163
and procure the islands of Eniwetok,
200 miles west of Bikini,
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00:24:44,241 --> 00:24:46,369
where Crossroads had been staged.
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00:24:51,402 --> 00:24:54,920
In early November, the first
construction crews arrived
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00:24:54,979 --> 00:24:57,189
to strip the islands of vegetation,
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00:24:57,229 --> 00:25:01,601
grade the land, and lay down
tar and asphalt for roads.
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00:25:11,261 --> 00:25:15,488
Within six months, construction crews
erected temporary housing
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00:25:15,547 --> 00:25:20,312
for many scientists and military personnel
required for Sandstone.
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00:25:20,766 --> 00:25:23,732
Perched atop 200-foot steel towers,
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00:25:23,781 --> 00:25:28,339
the three devices utilized on Sandstone
employed new technology
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00:25:28,413 --> 00:25:30,982
to double the explosive force of the bomb,
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00:25:31,050 --> 00:25:34,757
using the same amount of
plutonium spent over Nagasaki.
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00:25:35,968 --> 00:25:38,385
This technology met
Department of Defense requirements
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00:25:38,685 --> 00:25:40,185
for more efficient bombs
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00:25:40,285 --> 00:25:44,185
and increase the ability to
stockpile nuclear weapons.
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00:26:47,585 --> 00:26:51,503
Remote-controlled tanks,
guided by helicopter,
235
00:26:51,577 --> 00:26:54,518
recovered fission samples
near Ground Zero,
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00:26:54,592 --> 00:26:58,087
to measure the intense
neutron and gamma radiation.
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00:26:59,446 --> 00:27:02,862
Radiochemical analysis of the
pulverized coral sand
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00:27:02,926 --> 00:27:05,730
would yield secrets about
the nuclear reaction,
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00:27:05,794 --> 00:27:09,745
and help in determining the efficiency of
the new bomb designs.
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00:27:09,828 --> 00:27:14,877
The results of Sandstone affected
the design of future nuclear weapons,
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00:27:14,945 --> 00:27:19,595
rendering the Mark III production components
of the Fat Man bomb obsolete.
242
00:27:19,659 --> 00:27:22,251
The Mark IV and Mark V designs
243
00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:26,256
brought improved performance and a
lighter weight to nuclear weapons.
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00:27:26,635 --> 00:27:29,726
Los Alamos National Laboratory Z Division
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00:27:29,819 --> 00:27:32,545
evolved into Sandia base,
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00:27:32,633 --> 00:27:37,197
located at Albuquerque, New Mexico's
Kirtland Air Force Base.
247
00:27:37,270 --> 00:27:39,031
Sandia's primary purpose was to engineer
248
00:27:39,100 --> 00:27:45,165
and manufacture deliverable
nuclear weapons, designed by Los Alamos.
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00:27:46,414 --> 00:27:48,404
In October of 1949,
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00:27:48,501 --> 00:27:52,692
Western Electric entered into a contract
with the Atomic Energy Commission,
251
00:27:52,785 --> 00:27:57,369
on a no-profit, no-fee basis
to form the Sandia Corporation,
252
00:27:57,442 --> 00:28:00,697
which assumed control of the base
from Los Alamos.
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00:28:02,212 --> 00:28:04,573
Sandia brought assembly-line techniques
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00:28:04,612 --> 00:28:07,387
and mass production to nuclear weapons,
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00:28:07,436 --> 00:28:11,589
to build the nation's stockpile of
tactical and strategic bombs.
256
00:28:18,529 --> 00:28:21,744
Upon his return from Bikini,
in public addresses,
257
00:28:21,809 --> 00:28:25,103
in interviews, and in published articles,
Admiral Blandy
258
00:28:25,171 --> 00:28:29,254
made recommendations of grave import
regarding the atomic bomb.
259
00:28:29,662 --> 00:28:34,755
It is essential that no country
gain ascendancy over the United States
260
00:28:34,824 --> 00:28:39,535
in the development, manufacture, and
tactical use of atomic weapons.
263
00:28:49,685 --> 00:28:54,759
On August 29, 1949, the Russians
detonated their first atomic bomb.
264
00:28:54,837 --> 00:28:57,038
This event, coming five years earlier
265
00:28:57,082 --> 00:28:59,200
than anyone in the West had predicted,
266
00:28:59,244 --> 00:29:02,185
was largely the result of one man, Klaus Fuchs.
267
00:29:02,285 --> 00:29:06,685
Fuchs, a Los Alamos physicist,
had passed detailed blueprints
268
00:29:06,785 --> 00:29:09,626
of the original Trinity design
to the Russians.
269
00:29:09,704 --> 00:29:14,381
With the emergence of the USSR
as a nuclear rival in 1949,
270
00:29:14,460 --> 00:29:17,185
the United States believed it
had strong motivation
271
00:29:17,285 --> 00:29:20,221
for intensifying its program of
nuclear testing.
272
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,278
It was quite expensive and
a lot of logistics involved
273
00:29:23,303 --> 00:29:25,509
in carrying out an operation
in the Pacific.
274
00:29:25,567 --> 00:29:31,797
So in January 1951, the United States
opened up the Nevada Proving Grounds,
275
00:29:32,924 --> 00:29:35,257
which we now call the Nevada Test Site.
276
00:29:35,306 --> 00:29:38,473
You know, this was about 60 miles
north of Las Vegas.
277
00:29:39,488 --> 00:29:42,083
To check out the weapons for Greenhouse,
278
00:29:42,131 --> 00:29:44,357
Operation Ranger was conducted,
279
00:29:44,402 --> 00:29:47,786
in which five new nuclear weapon types
280
00:29:47,830 --> 00:29:51,551
were air-dropped at that new test site.
282
00:31:50,791 --> 00:31:54,066
With the confidence of those
new weapons in hand,
283
00:31:54,129 --> 00:31:59,467
Operation Greenhouse proceeded
in the Spring of 1951.
284
00:31:59,551 --> 00:32:02,664
Four shots were conducted on
Greenhouse.
285
00:32:02,743 --> 00:32:05,409
One of the shots, Shot Easy,
286
00:32:05,478 --> 00:32:09,073
was a Department of Defense
structural effects test.
287
00:32:09,141 --> 00:32:14,444
A 47-kiloton nuclear device on
a tower was used,
288
00:32:14,523 --> 00:32:19,247
and it loaded many, many of the
structures that had been developed
289
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:23,869
for survivability in a
nuclear weapons environment.
291
00:33:16,485 --> 00:33:21,593
A fourth test on Operation Greenhouse
was the Item test.
292
00:33:21,686 --> 00:33:25,205
About a 45-and-a-half-kiloton test
293
00:33:25,293 --> 00:33:31,996
in which tritium was burned
in the very center of the nuclear explosion.
294
00:33:32,085 --> 00:33:40,137
And this process of putting tritium at the
very center of the nuclear weapon is called "boosting."
295
00:33:40,225 --> 00:33:47,181
And we kicked the yield up from about 20 kilotons
to 45 and a half kilotons,
296
00:33:47,246 --> 00:33:50,642
more than doubling it by that process.
297
00:33:50,715 --> 00:33:55,548
A very important feature in
expanding the stockpile
298
00:33:55,621 --> 00:33:59,585
of nuclear weapons of the
United States at that time.
300
00:34:46,285 --> 00:34:50,582
Another of the events on Greenhouse
was the George event.
301
00:34:50,670 --> 00:34:55,970
Now, George is a large, 225-kiloton weapon
302
00:34:56,067 --> 00:35:00,484
that was used to burn a deuterium capsule.
303
00:35:00,572 --> 00:35:06,178
And this is the first of our thermonuclear
weapon experiments to ever be conducted.
305
00:36:54,195 --> 00:36:57,503
Many people thought about it.
We discussed it a lot.
306
00:36:57,556 --> 00:37:02,574
At the end of the war, most
people wanted to stop. I didn't.
307
00:37:02,647 --> 00:37:04,796
Because here was more knowledge
308
00:37:04,864 --> 00:37:08,195
in the coming uncertain period.
309
00:37:08,395 --> 00:37:11,446
With a dangerous man like Stalin around
310
00:37:11,486 --> 00:37:14,557
and our incomplete knowledge,
311
00:37:14,611 --> 00:37:18,194
I felt that more knowledge is necessary.
312
00:37:18,254 --> 00:37:22,883
Among the people who knew a great deal
about the hydrogen bomb,
313
00:37:22,967 --> 00:37:25,932
I was the only advocate of it.
314
00:37:25,996 --> 00:37:28,628
And that is, I think, my contribution.
315
00:37:28,677 --> 00:37:31,455
Not that I invented it. Others would have.
316
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,440
And others in the Soviet Union did.
317
00:37:34,499 --> 00:37:40,476
But I was the one person
who put knowledge,
318
00:37:40,555 --> 00:37:45,616
and the availability of knowledge,
above everything else.
319
00:37:45,670 --> 00:37:50,502
And I must say it appears that
that appealed to Truman,
320
00:37:50,551 --> 00:37:52,744
and he made the right decision.
322
00:37:59,895 --> 00:38:02,951
Welcome aboard the USS Estes.
323
00:38:03,137 --> 00:38:07,899
As you may or may not know,
the Estes, here, is the command ship
324
00:38:07,967 --> 00:38:11,070
of Joint Task Force 132.
325
00:38:11,128 --> 00:38:14,575
We have minutes to go before
the first blast, Mike Shot,
326
00:38:14,629 --> 00:38:16,330
of Operation Ivy.
327
00:38:17,571 --> 00:38:20,436
59 minutes now, to be exact.
328
00:38:21,266 --> 00:38:24,059
We've been here since daybreak.
329
00:38:24,108 --> 00:38:28,096
Left Wetok last night, during the
early morning hours.
330
00:38:33,132 --> 00:38:34,611
Now, as you can imagine,
331
00:38:34,665 --> 00:38:38,042
feeling is running pretty high about now,
332
00:38:38,106 --> 00:38:40,057
And there's reason for it.
333
00:38:40,116 --> 00:38:42,528
If everything goes according to plan,
334
00:38:42,582 --> 00:38:45,219
we'll soon see the largest explosion
335
00:38:45,292 --> 00:38:47,469
ever set off on the face of the Earth.
336
00:38:47,518 --> 00:38:49,395
The test islands for Mike
337
00:38:49,495 --> 00:38:53,916
are located at the top, or the
northern sector, of Eniwetok Atoll,
338
00:38:53,961 --> 00:38:57,470
some 25 miles from Parry and Eniwetok,
339
00:38:57,524 --> 00:39:00,680
the two base islands of this
atoll proving grounds.
340
00:39:02,503 --> 00:39:04,441
Three islands making up the test site
341
00:39:04,489 --> 00:39:06,239
were linked together by causeways.
342
00:39:06,299 --> 00:39:10,822
These connecting roads were built to
make it easy to get from island to island,
343
00:39:10,902 --> 00:39:14,126
and to act as land platforms for
some of the instrumentation.
344
00:39:15,872 --> 00:39:21,247
Situated on the Zero island was the cab,
or building, which housed the device.
345
00:39:22,265 --> 00:39:25,514
The Mike device was known as a "wet bomb,"
346
00:39:25,573 --> 00:39:28,133
because it used liquid hydrogen isotopes
347
00:39:28,196 --> 00:39:30,577
to create the thermonuclear reaction.
348
00:39:30,627 --> 00:39:32,912
This made the device very large,
349
00:39:32,976 --> 00:39:38,182
weighing some 62 tons, and impractical
to use as a deliverable weapon.
350
00:39:38,266 --> 00:39:41,530
A plywood tube ran from the Zero island,
351
00:39:41,589 --> 00:39:44,155
across the causeways, to a detection station
352
00:39:44,156 --> 00:39:47,733
on the farthest island, a distance
of nearly two miles.
353
00:39:47,801 --> 00:39:50,184
This tube was filled with helium,
354
00:39:50,272 --> 00:39:52,429
allowing lethal radioactive rays
355
00:39:52,498 --> 00:39:54,944
faster travel to the detection station,
356
00:39:55,013 --> 00:39:57,963
before the island was
consumed by the fireball.
357
00:40:03,012 --> 00:40:04,964
You have a grandstand seat here
358
00:40:05,033 --> 00:40:08,450
to one of the most momentous events
in the history of science.
359
00:40:08,523 --> 00:40:13,518
In less than a minute you
see the most powerful explosion
360
00:40:13,577 --> 00:40:15,753
ever witnessed by human eyes.
361
00:40:16,757 --> 00:40:20,054
The blast will come out of the horizon,
just about there.
362
00:40:20,656 --> 00:40:23,425
And this is the significance of the moment:
363
00:40:23,489 --> 00:40:28,241
this is the first full-scale test
of a hydrogen device.
364
00:40:28,294 --> 00:40:32,923
If the reaction goes, we're in
the Thermonuclear Era.
365
00:40:33,849 --> 00:40:37,725
For the sake of all of us,
and for the sake of our country,
366
00:40:37,794 --> 00:40:41,395
I know that you join me in wishing
this expedition well.
367
00:40:41,495 --> 00:40:44,508
It is now 30 seconds to Zero Time.
368
00:40:44,568 --> 00:40:47,268
Put on goggles or turn away.
369
00:40:47,332 --> 00:40:50,001
Do not remove goggles or face burst
370
00:40:50,065 --> 00:40:53,895
until ten seconds after the first light.
371
00:41:04,495 --> 00:41:05,495
Minus 15 seconds.
372
00:41:14,995 --> 00:41:16,495
Minus 10 seconds.
373
00:41:17,495 --> 00:41:22,992
Niner, eight, seven, six, fiver...
374
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:27,700
four, three, two, one...
375
00:42:31,395 --> 00:42:33,945
2-6 approaching Ground Zero,
376
00:42:34,926 --> 00:42:36,603
coming up on Bogon.
377
00:42:37,817 --> 00:42:42,495
The detection station on Bogon
appears to be in good shape.
378
00:42:43,195 --> 00:42:45,866
No visible sign of plywood tube.
379
00:42:45,929 --> 00:42:49,294
All test islands seem to be swept clean.
380
00:42:49,371 --> 00:42:51,803
Elugelab is completely gone.
381
00:42:51,876 --> 00:42:56,361
Nothing there but water and
what appears to be a deep crater.
383
00:43:04,295 --> 00:43:07,751
In the spring of 1953,
the Atomic Energy Commission
384
00:43:07,825 --> 00:43:12,526
and the Department of Defense conducted
eleven nuclear weapon tests in Nevada
385
00:43:12,589 --> 00:43:15,480
under the code name Upshot-Knothole.
386
00:43:15,995 --> 00:43:20,347
The objectives of Upshot-Knothole were to
test new nuclear devices,
387
00:43:20,411 --> 00:43:22,470
improve battlefield tactics,
388
00:43:22,553 --> 00:43:26,809
and to study the needs of civil defense
against a Soviet attack.
389
00:43:26,888 --> 00:43:33,966
The first of the events, code-named Encore,
was a 27-kiloton nuclear device
390
00:43:34,035 --> 00:43:37,314
air-dropped and detonated at
about 2,800 feet
391
00:43:37,397 --> 00:43:39,549
above a large blast line.
392
00:43:39,617 --> 00:43:43,853
The second Department of Defense burst,
called Grable,
393
00:43:43,922 --> 00:43:46,883
was detonated at the same general area,
394
00:43:46,966 --> 00:43:51,907
and it was delivered by the Army�s
new artillery cannon.
395
00:43:51,986 --> 00:43:59,818
A 280mm projectile was fired and detonated
over about the same blast area,
396
00:43:59,876 --> 00:44:06,457
with a yield of about 15 kilotons,
at an altitude of about 500 feet.
397
00:44:06,551 --> 00:44:10,683
Now, the smaller yield,
15 kilotons at 500 feet,
398
00:44:10,767 --> 00:44:13,952
produced a great deal more damage
399
00:44:14,051 --> 00:44:19,983
than had the larger yield, Encore event,
27 kilotons at 2,800 feet.
400
00:44:20,051 --> 00:44:23,095
And that's because the smaller yield
at the lower altitude
401
00:44:23,158 --> 00:44:27,938
produced a very abnormal waveform
which we call a "precursor,"
402
00:44:28,007 --> 00:44:30,811
which is very stong, dynamic winds
403
00:44:30,874 --> 00:44:35,855
which, to drag-sensitive targets,
produces extensive damage.
404
00:44:35,903 --> 00:44:41,374
For instance, a Jeep at a given level on Encore
may not have been damaged at all,
405
00:44:41,747 --> 00:44:45,979
but on Grable, with a precursor loading,
406
00:44:46,039 --> 00:44:49,249
that Jeep would be completely
torn to pieces
407
00:44:49,327 --> 00:44:54,180
and thrown down the blast line
distances like 500 feet.
408
00:44:54,254 --> 00:44:58,533
Well, there were many other peculiarities
to those two shots,
409
00:44:58,602 --> 00:45:02,097
but it opened up a whole new vista
410
00:45:02,165 --> 00:45:07,053
of "how do you use nuclear
weapons in a combat situation?"
412
00:47:41,295 --> 00:47:44,274
Common sense tells you
this is dangerous and foolish.
413
00:47:44,343 --> 00:47:46,504
You wouldn't risk your neck in a trick like this.
414
00:47:46,593 --> 00:47:51,127
Common sense tells us that being shot
out of a cannon is dangerous business.
415
00:47:51,207 --> 00:47:53,691
Common sense tells you not to
be careless at an airfield
416
00:47:53,735 --> 00:47:56,166
with propellers and jet engines in action.
417
00:47:56,245 --> 00:47:58,914
Handling dynamite - this, too,
looks dangerous.
418
00:47:58,982 --> 00:48:01,011
But it's an everyday job for these men,
419
00:48:01,076 --> 00:48:03,972
because they observe commonsense
safety precautions.
420
00:48:04,036 --> 00:48:06,929
But sometimes we forget that security violations
421
00:48:07,022 --> 00:48:08,723
can be dangerous business, too.
422
00:48:08,767 --> 00:48:12,815
If classified information about this test mission
fell into enemy hands,
423
00:48:12,859 --> 00:48:15,383
the consequences could be
disastrous to all of us,
424
00:48:15,432 --> 00:48:18,240
individually and collectively as a nation.
425
00:48:18,315 --> 00:48:20,780
Security is only common sense.
426
00:48:20,868 --> 00:48:22,138
Don't take chances.
427
00:48:22,201 --> 00:48:23,466
Avoid loose talk.
428
00:48:23,516 --> 00:48:25,628
Safeguard classified information.
429
00:48:25,691 --> 00:48:28,108
Report security violations at once.
430
00:48:28,157 --> 00:48:30,167
Prompt action may prevent a minor incident
431
00:48:30,207 --> 00:48:32,378
from developing into a serious one.
432
00:48:32,442 --> 00:48:35,717
Avoid writing about classified material
in letters home.
433
00:48:35,795 --> 00:48:38,952
Be sure you're secure!
Don't be careless!
434
00:48:40,076 --> 00:48:42,618
I hate a careless man!
436
00:48:48,345 --> 00:48:50,096
Work on high-yield hydrogen bombs
437
00:48:50,140 --> 00:48:51,871
had progressed from Operation Ivy,
438
00:48:51,945 --> 00:48:56,221
culminating in the spring of 1954
with Castle Bravo:
439
00:48:56,315 --> 00:49:01,887
the largest device ever detonated in
atmospheric testing by the United States.
440
00:49:03,486 --> 00:49:08,031
Bravo was a hydrogen bomb
using solid thermonuclear fuel,
441
00:49:08,088 --> 00:49:11,946
confirming the designs of
Edward Teller and Stan Ulam,
442
00:49:12,015 --> 00:49:16,294
and paving the way to producing
aircraft-deliverable hydrogen bombs
443
00:49:16,353 --> 00:49:18,382
and more effective weapons.
447
00:51:44,095 --> 00:51:48,275
Significantly exceeding its expected yield
by two and a half times,
448
00:51:48,344 --> 00:51:51,999
Castle Bravo, with an explosive power
of 15 megatons,
449
00:51:52,078 --> 00:51:54,348
stripped islands clean of vegetation
450
00:51:54,416 --> 00:51:57,499
and took the scientists by surprise.
451
00:51:59,095 --> 00:52:03,095
The huge explosion released large
quantities of radioactive debris
452
00:52:03,149 --> 00:52:04,962
into the atmosphere.
453
00:52:05,012 --> 00:52:09,038
This resulted in the exposure and
contamination of some servicemen,
454
00:52:09,093 --> 00:52:11,553
natives, and the crew of a Japanese
fishing boat
455
00:52:11,602 --> 00:52:15,160
which had gone unnoticed in the
security zone around the blast.
456
00:52:16,783 --> 00:52:20,668
This incident pushed the dangers of fallout
457
00:52:20,669 --> 00:52:22,895
from nuclear weapons clearly into
the public mind.
459
00:53:09,295 --> 00:53:10,551
Let's face it:
460
00:53:10,619 --> 00:53:13,945
the threat of hydrogen bomb
warfare is the greatest danger
461
00:53:14,014 --> 00:53:16,027
our nation has ever known.
462
00:53:16,111 --> 00:53:20,718
Enemy jet bombers carrying nuclear
weapons can sweep over a variety
463
00:53:20,767 --> 00:53:25,124
of routes and drop bombs on any
important target in the United States.
464
00:53:26,301 --> 00:53:29,248
The threat of this destruction
has affected our way of life
465
00:53:29,297 --> 00:53:32,945
in every city, town, and village
from coast to coast.
466
00:53:33,129 --> 00:53:35,433
These are the signs of the times.
467
00:53:40,095 --> 00:53:44,263
Only in practice now;
a rehearsal, a training exercise.
468
00:53:44,870 --> 00:53:48,351
But tomorrow, this siren may
mean the real thing.
469
00:53:49,218 --> 00:53:52,229
And if you hear it,
as you drive in your auto,
470
00:53:52,273 --> 00:53:55,882
as you sit in your office,
or work at your bank,
471
00:53:55,940 --> 00:53:59,891
wherever you are,
what will you do?
472
00:53:59,935 --> 00:54:02,822
What will happen to you?
473
00:54:03,795 --> 00:54:06,175
Professor, let me tip your hat back
so we can get a good view of you
474
00:54:06,224 --> 00:54:07,772
as I ask a very personal question:
475
00:54:07,797 --> 00:54:08,819
How old are you?
476
00:54:08,864 --> 00:54:12,625
My next birthday, I'll be 65,
sorry to say.
477
00:54:13,223 --> 00:54:15,664
That makes you the oldest,
and yet really the youngest,
478
00:54:15,742 --> 00:54:18,295
from what we've observed here,
479
00:54:18,353 --> 00:54:20,300
inhabitant of our trench,
so close to Ground Zero.
480
00:54:20,334 --> 00:54:22,144
Arthur, there's a charming lady
right behind you.
481
00:54:22,173 --> 00:54:23,423
Would you mind if we talked to her, too?
482
00:54:23,448 --> 00:54:25,795
I'd like to get a little feminine reaction here, too.
483
00:54:25,820 --> 00:54:28,066
This is Helen Leininger from New York City.
484
00:54:28,195 --> 00:54:30,445
Helen, how long have you been waiting now?
485
00:54:30,504 --> 00:54:33,190
Oh, about eight days.
486
00:54:33,244 --> 00:54:34,817
- Eight... nine days...
- Nine days, yes!
487
00:54:34,856 --> 00:54:36,116
...if we do the calculation right.
488
00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:37,999
Well, Grant, I guess we'd better
get back up to Media Hill
489
00:54:38,040 --> 00:54:40,945
and see what's going on,
and how close to H-Hour we really are.
490
00:54:41,013 --> 00:54:46,683
Well, here on Media Hill, Roy, the big story
as far as we can determine from looking out there
491
00:54:46,748 --> 00:54:48,331
is the Civil Defense story,
492
00:54:48,389 --> 00:54:51,894
as well as that story of the military
and the armored vehicles,
493
00:54:51,948 --> 00:54:54,003
the tanks and the personnel carriers.
494
00:54:54,046 --> 00:54:57,463
Now, Roy, once again, I want to
call you in so we can take a look
495
00:54:57,541 --> 00:54:59,375
at our split-screen arrangement
that we have here,
496
00:54:59,446 --> 00:55:01,723
not only our cameras here on Media Hill,
497
00:55:01,796 --> 00:55:03,367
but the camera that you have
down in the trench,
498
00:55:03,425 --> 00:55:05,076
so come in on that split screen.
499
00:55:05,115 --> 00:55:07,934
In just a few seconds now, you'll
see me assume this position,
500
00:55:08,013 --> 00:55:09,645
matter of fact, there's our cue now.
501
00:55:09,693 --> 00:55:11,724
Everybody down, get down in the position
502
00:55:11,768 --> 00:55:14,419
I'm going to shield my eyes
against flying debris.
503
00:55:14,484 --> 00:55:16,474
Pull my helmet down on the nape of my neck
504
00:55:16,532 --> 00:55:18,659
so that we don't get too many flying rocks.
505
00:55:18,714 --> 00:55:22,846
All right. Good luck, Roy. Now let me
to explain something about this screen:
506
00:55:22,891 --> 00:55:25,214
This screen, across the bottom
of the section that I am,
507
00:55:25,273 --> 00:55:29,039
will represent one mile on your camera.
The top part, two miles.
508
00:55:29,122 --> 00:55:32,059
We're going to switch to another camera,
I'm going to move out of here...
509
00:55:32,137 --> 00:55:36,839
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
510
00:55:36,912 --> 00:55:42,897
five, four, three,
two, one, zero.
511
00:55:46,303 --> 00:55:51,315
The shock wave will arrive in the control point
area in approximately half a minute.
513
00:56:49,095 --> 00:56:51,008
Almost nine years had passed
514
00:56:51,087 --> 00:56:53,576
since the cancellation of the
deep underwater test
515
00:56:53,634 --> 00:56:55,424
on Operation Crossroads.
516
00:56:56,247 --> 00:57:00,469
That test was finally conducted
as Operation Wigwam.
517
00:57:04,699 --> 00:57:08,022
500 miles off the coast
of San Diego, California,
518
00:57:08,091 --> 00:57:11,495
a 30-kiloton nuclear device
was suspended by a cable
519
00:57:11,595 --> 00:57:14,500
2,000 feet below an unmanned barge.
520
00:57:14,758 --> 00:57:17,116
A tow line, six miles long,
521
00:57:17,209 --> 00:57:19,286
stretched from the barge.
522
00:57:20,530 --> 00:57:22,054
Suspended from this tow line
523
00:57:22,109 --> 00:57:25,648
were three unmanned
submarines called "squaws."
524
00:57:29,817 --> 00:57:32,814
Cameras and instruments
were placed inside each sub
525
00:57:32,844 --> 00:57:35,721
to record the effects
of the nuclear detonation.
526
00:57:44,483 --> 00:57:46,153
The purpose of this operation
527
00:57:46,241 --> 00:57:49,403
was to determine the fatal range
of an enemy submarine
528
00:57:49,505 --> 00:57:52,330
to a deeply-detonated nuclear weapon.
529
00:58:00,595 --> 00:58:03,602
25 seconds to Zero Time.
530
00:58:09,430 --> 00:58:12,484
20 seconds to Zero Time.
531
00:58:21,283 --> 00:58:24,304
15 seconds to Zero Time.
532
00:58:28,296 --> 00:58:35,289
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
533
00:58:35,412 --> 00:58:42,827
five, four, three, two, one...
536
00:59:30,595 --> 00:59:33,979
Operation Redwing was conducted
in the Pacific,
537
00:59:34,043 --> 00:59:38,180
primarily to test high-yield
thermonuclear devices.
538
00:59:41,443 --> 00:59:45,741
Seven months prior to Redwing,
the Soviet Union had demonstrated
539
00:59:45,805 --> 00:59:48,090
the ability to deliver thermonuclear weapons
540
00:59:48,139 --> 00:59:49,595
by strategic bombers,
541
00:59:49,653 --> 00:59:52,060
tipping the balance of power in their favor.
542
00:59:52,939 --> 00:59:57,274
The Cherokee event would be the
first delivery by U.S. aircraft
543
00:59:57,328 --> 00:59:59,382
of a thermonuclear weapon.
544
01:00:00,292 --> 01:00:04,874
This weapon would detonate with
a yield of three and a half megatons.
545
01:00:04,963 --> 01:00:08,713
Almost 200 times the power
the Trinity device.
548
01:00:48,395 --> 01:00:50,827
Cratering from high-yield detonations
549
01:00:50,910 --> 01:00:54,783
was taking its toll on the Pacific test islands.
550
01:00:54,905 --> 01:00:58,430
Real estate at the Pacific proving grounds
was disappearing,
551
01:00:58,533 --> 01:01:00,191
and land was at a premium.
552
01:01:00,283 --> 01:01:04,533
Barges were increasingly employed
as a cheap form of transportation
553
01:01:04,602 --> 01:01:08,425
to carry thermonuclear bombs
out to sea for detonation.
554
01:01:28,641 --> 01:01:32,728
Many of these tests would document
an ever-growing concern.
556
01:01:39,695 --> 01:01:41,775
One special phase of the study
557
01:01:41,825 --> 01:01:45,342
concerned the amount of radiation
that would pass through the human body.
558
01:01:45,407 --> 01:01:48,328
This required instrumentaion
in the stomach.
559
01:01:48,412 --> 01:01:51,850
A small capsule was devised
as a film stack,
560
01:01:51,910 --> 01:01:54,350
with alternate bits
of film and spacers.
561
01:01:56,198 --> 01:02:00,838
Secured with a string and paraffin coated,
the capsule is swallowed.
562
01:02:02,990 --> 01:02:07,362
One end of the string hangs out of the mouth,
so that the capsule can be retrieved
563
01:02:07,441 --> 01:02:10,382
after exposure, and the radiation measured.
564
01:02:13,513 --> 01:02:16,395
Gamma radiation may do its damage
in either of two major ways,
565
01:02:16,469 --> 01:02:18,072
or both:
566
01:02:18,174 --> 01:02:20,964
One, it may physically and directly
destroy tissue,
567
01:02:21,037 --> 01:02:23,980
or eventually cause the
development of some kind of cancers.
568
01:02:24,047 --> 01:02:27,399
Those which concern us principally
have life periods
569
01:02:27,448 --> 01:02:29,540
ranging from several years
to thousands of years.
570
01:02:30,095 --> 01:02:33,130
They can do no harm,
unless they are taken into our bodies
571
01:02:33,155 --> 01:02:35,995
with food or drinking water,
or in the air we breathe.
572
01:02:36,025 --> 01:02:39,628
Let us consider the results of a
powerful thermonuclear explosion
573
01:02:39,687 --> 01:02:42,804
at the Pacific proving grounds
in the Marshall Islands,
574
01:02:42,878 --> 01:02:44,838
11 degrees north of the Equator.
575
01:02:44,888 --> 01:02:48,471
The huge cloud soars up, punches
through the tropopause,
576
01:02:48,520 --> 01:02:53,619
and finally spreads and stabilizes
as high as 70 or 80 thousand feet,
577
01:02:53,692 --> 01:02:56,099
entirely within the stratosphere layer.
578
01:02:56,158 --> 01:03:00,765
This brings us to the most widely discussed
fission product, strontium-90.
579
01:03:00,864 --> 01:03:05,090
Chemically similar to the soil calcium
with which it becomes mixed,
580
01:03:05,095 --> 01:03:08,730
the strontium-90 follows calcium
through its regular cycles,
581
01:03:08,735 --> 01:03:09,918
into our plant foods,
582
01:03:09,920 --> 01:03:13,095
and into the bones, meat, and milk
of our plant-eating animals.
583
01:03:13,193 --> 01:03:17,140
Reaching our own bodies,
the strontium-90, like calcium,
584
01:03:17,145 --> 01:03:19,825
tends to be concentrated in our bones,
585
01:03:19,830 --> 01:03:22,630
particularly those of children
who are building new bone.
586
01:03:22,635 --> 01:03:26,897
The radiation from strontium-90 has
extremely short range in the body,
587
01:03:26,900 --> 01:03:29,870
so it causes no genetic threat
to the reproductive cells.
588
01:03:29,873 --> 01:03:33,315
It does pose a threat to
the bone marrow, and the bone itself,
589
01:03:33,320 --> 01:03:36,418
in the form of either
leukemia or bone cancer.
590
01:03:41,250 --> 01:03:46,934
If this should happen, it would be a tragic thing
for those injured, no matter how small the number.
591
01:03:47,023 --> 01:03:51,292
Whether these statistically very few
casualties can be justified
592
01:03:51,355 --> 01:03:54,771
is a personal value judgment
outside the scope of this report.
593
01:03:54,820 --> 01:03:58,927
Each citizen must make his or her
own evaluation.
594
01:03:59,305 --> 01:04:01,616
There are those few who loudly maintain
595
01:04:01,680 --> 01:04:04,224
that there is no actual threat to
the free world at all,
596
01:04:04,302 --> 01:04:08,714
certainly none that can justify either
nuclear testing or nuclear armament.
597
01:04:08,792 --> 01:04:12,401
The opposite viewpoint holds that the
development of our nuclear power
598
01:04:12,471 --> 01:04:14,374
has been an absolutely necessary protection
599
01:04:14,375 --> 01:04:17,321
against Communist hostility
and nuclear threats.
600
01:04:17,394 --> 01:04:21,212
In this view, the fallout casualties, if any,
601
01:04:21,295 --> 01:04:24,555
will be seen as those of unidentified soldiers
602
01:04:24,653 --> 01:04:26,291
in the service of humanity,
603
01:04:26,344 --> 01:04:29,717
unknown soldiers in a war which
has not struck,
604
01:04:29,795 --> 01:04:33,624
and which our nuclear power may indeed
prevent from ever striking.
605
01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:40,314
In the fall of 1957, with test moratoriums
looming on the horizon,
606
01:04:40,397 --> 01:04:44,196
24 nuclear tests were
conducted in the Nevada desert,
607
01:04:44,264 --> 01:04:47,348
under the code name
Operation Plumbbob.
608
01:04:47,402 --> 01:04:51,475
During Plumbbob, the Hood event
would become the largest test
609
01:04:51,548 --> 01:04:55,912
ever conducted in the atmosphere
within the continental United States.
610
01:04:55,980 --> 01:04:59,004
Hood, a 74-kiloton device,
611
01:04:59,079 --> 01:05:03,215
was suspended 1,500 feet above
the desert floor on a balloon.
612
01:05:09,988 --> 01:05:12,686
While new weapon designs
continued to be tested,
613
01:05:12,745 --> 01:05:15,264
the Department of Defense used the series
614
01:05:15,313 --> 01:05:18,446
to accelerate military training
in nuclear warfare,
615
01:05:18,524 --> 01:05:22,701
while continuing its study of the
effects from nuclear explosions.
616
01:07:55,325 --> 01:08:01,007
The 21st test conducted during Operation
Plumbbob was "The Rainier Event."
617
01:08:01,087 --> 01:08:07,529
This was the first fully-contained underground nuclear
weapon detonation conducted by the United States.
618
01:08:07,608 --> 01:08:12,995
The 3-kiloton device was detonated
790 feet below Rainier Mesa,
619
01:08:13,068 --> 01:08:17,388
vaporizing rock into a molten bubble
100 feet wide.
620
01:08:17,446 --> 01:08:21,863
This technology would have great importance
after the Limited Test Ban Treaty,
621
01:08:21,941 --> 01:08:25,525
which would prohibit all but underground
testing of nuclear weapons,
622
01:08:25,606 --> 01:08:29,343
and hide future experiments
from prying eyes.
623
01:08:42,165 --> 01:08:47,122
During Operation Hardtack, the United States
detonated 35 nuclear devices,
624
01:08:47,195 --> 01:08:50,730
as many as had been fired
in all prior Pacific tests.
625
01:08:53,773 --> 01:08:57,445
By now, nuclear weapon tests
were perceived, in large part,
626
01:08:57,494 --> 01:08:58,974
as saber-rattling,
627
01:08:59,029 --> 01:09:01,112
increasing the international tensions
628
01:09:01,185 --> 01:09:04,209
that could lead to all-out nuclear war.
629
01:09:13,425 --> 01:09:14,965
Against mounting pressure,
630
01:09:15,044 --> 01:09:18,621
the United States government still
believed that the weapons were vital,
631
01:09:18,675 --> 01:09:23,430
and were the only counterweight to
offset superior Soviet manpower.
632
01:09:23,927 --> 01:09:28,817
The Soviets, having just completed an
elaborate series of atmospheric tests,
633
01:09:28,896 --> 01:09:33,234
were now likely to make a move
to renounce testing,
634
01:09:33,308 --> 01:09:36,509
knowing full well that the U.S.
was involved in a massive operation.
635
01:09:38,277 --> 01:09:42,456
And operations were conducted at
Eniwetok and Bikini, as we had before,
636
01:09:42,549 --> 01:09:47,373
and a new operational site was brought
in under Operation Hardtack,
637
01:09:47,374 --> 01:09:49,741
And that was the Johnston Island operations.
638
01:09:49,799 --> 01:09:55,301
During the tests, one of the events of
some significance is the Cactus event.
639
01:09:55,370 --> 01:09:58,634
This was a little 18-kiloton
device that produced
640
01:09:58,684 --> 01:10:03,115
a crater about 137 feet across
and 37 feet deep.
641
01:10:03,528 --> 01:10:07,581
Many years later, in 1980,
all of the fission debris
642
01:10:07,645 --> 01:10:11,645
and radioactive material on Eniwetok Atoll
643
01:10:11,704 --> 01:10:15,387
was gathered up and dumped
into the Cactus crater,
644
01:10:15,446 --> 01:10:19,279
and then a concrete dome was
placed over the crater
645
01:10:19,343 --> 01:10:23,774
to keep and stabilize the radioactive
material that had been contained in it.
646
01:10:23,823 --> 01:10:25,411
A year before Hardtack,
647
01:10:25,412 --> 01:10:29,662
the Soviets launched a small
satellite named Sputnik 1.
648
01:10:29,722 --> 01:10:32,586
Concerned by the superiority
of Soviet rockets,
649
01:10:32,654 --> 01:10:35,248
the United States conducted its
first two missile-borne,
650
01:10:35,287 --> 01:10:37,149
high altitude detonations,
651
01:10:37,218 --> 01:10:39,404
known as Teak and Orange.
652
01:10:39,463 --> 01:10:41,706
The nuclear weapons for Teak and Orange
653
01:10:41,769 --> 01:10:44,826
were carried aloft into space
by the Redstone missile,
654
01:10:44,910 --> 01:10:47,297
developed by Wernher von Braun.
655
01:10:47,351 --> 01:10:49,366
Von Braun and his crew had developed
656
01:10:49,410 --> 01:10:52,248
the V-2 rocket for Germany
during World War II.
657
01:10:52,332 --> 01:10:55,052
The Redstone was considered
an extension
658
01:10:55,136 --> 01:10:57,081
of this World War II technology
659
01:10:57,151 --> 01:10:58,763
and had a limited range.
660
01:10:59,809 --> 01:11:02,200
Utilizing liquid oxygen for fuel,
661
01:11:02,275 --> 01:11:07,166
The Redstone would propel its nuclear cargo
into the Earth's upper atmosphere
662
01:11:07,246 --> 01:11:09,768
and release it for detonation.
663
01:12:32,925 --> 01:12:36,373
Teak, with a yield of 3.8 megatons,
664
01:12:36,441 --> 01:12:39,948
detonated nearly 50 miles
above the surface of the Earth.
665
01:12:40,812 --> 01:12:44,982
The explosion created a violent magnetic
disturbance in the atmosphere,
666
01:12:45,046 --> 01:12:49,018
known as EMP, or Electromagnetic Pulse.
667
01:12:49,106 --> 01:12:53,610
This phenomenon silenced radio
transmissions for nearly eight hours,
668
01:12:53,674 --> 01:12:57,556
and damaged electrical circuits
from Hawaii to New Zealand.
669
01:13:02,039 --> 01:13:05,554
Immediately following shots
Teak and Orange in the Pacific
670
01:13:05,638 --> 01:13:09,138
the United States conducted
Operation Argus:
671
01:13:09,212 --> 01:13:13,275
Three 1-kiloton missile-borne tests
in the South Atlantic.
672
01:13:19,699 --> 01:13:24,408
The Argus experiment sought
to create and explore
673
01:13:24,462 --> 01:13:26,580
trapped bomb radiation in
the Earth's Van Allen belts.
674
01:13:27,629 --> 01:13:30,478
Detonating 300 miles above the Earth,
675
01:13:30,542 --> 01:13:33,978
the experiment sought to create
a radioactive shield
676
01:13:34,047 --> 01:13:37,445
to impede the performance of a
Soviet missile attack.
677
01:13:49,325 --> 01:13:53,525
These pictures, enlarged from 16mm
for your theater screen,
678
01:13:53,325 --> 01:13:57,219
are the first to show the hand-raising
which makes history in Russia,
679
01:13:57,307 --> 01:13:59,859
for it marks the approval by
the Supreme Soviet
680
01:13:59,918 --> 01:14:02,649
of Nikita Khrushchev's rise
to the Premiership,
681
01:14:02,693 --> 01:14:05,153
and power that was once Stalin's.
682
01:14:05,217 --> 01:14:08,237
The free world awaits the
obvious diplomatic thrusts,
683
01:14:08,290 --> 01:14:10,565
the first coming barely
four days later.
684
01:14:10,628 --> 01:14:14,133
Russia announces it is
suspending further nuclear tests,
685
01:14:14,193 --> 01:14:18,006
a statement which the U.S.
brands a propaganda maneuver.
686
01:14:19,891 --> 01:14:22,286
The United States is prepared,
687
01:14:22,351 --> 01:14:26,160
unless testing is resumed
by the Soviet Union,
688
01:14:26,238 --> 01:14:32,117
to withhold further testing, on its part,
of atomic and hydrogen weapons
689
01:14:32,200 --> 01:14:37,300
for a period of one year from
the beginning of the negotiations.
690
01:14:50,625 --> 01:14:54,701
For two years, an uneasy moratorium
on weapon testing
691
01:14:54,799 --> 01:14:58,230
continued between the United States
and the Soviet Union.
692
01:15:01,584 --> 01:15:04,409
Secretly, the Soviets began designing
693
01:15:04,453 --> 01:15:06,747
new weapons of mass destruction,
694
01:15:06,791 --> 01:15:10,037
including a 57-megaton hydrogen bomb,
695
01:15:10,100 --> 01:15:13,625
the largest nuclear weapon ever built.
696
01:15:24,129 --> 01:15:27,312
This monster bomb was a
scaled-down version
697
01:15:27,377 --> 01:15:29,661
of a 100-megaton design,
698
01:15:29,739 --> 01:15:32,962
and was aircraft-deliverable.
699
01:16:25,625 --> 01:16:29,731
As he said he would, Mr. Khrushchev
has exploded his giant bomb,
700
01:16:29,775 --> 01:16:32,425
in cynical disregard of the United Nations.
701
01:16:35,025 --> 01:16:39,224
By this act, the Soviet Union
had added injury to insult.
702
01:16:39,278 --> 01:16:43,680
They broke the moratorium
on nuclear weapons testing.
703
01:16:43,729 --> 01:16:47,572
They have raised atmospheric pollution
to new heights.
704
01:16:47,631 --> 01:16:52,827
They have started a new race,
for more deadly weapons.
705
01:16:53,749 --> 01:16:57,569
They have spurned the humanitarian
appeal of the United Nations
706
01:16:57,647 --> 01:17:00,413
and of all peace-loving peoples.
707
01:17:00,497 --> 01:17:03,884
They have advanced no solid justification
708
01:17:03,939 --> 01:17:08,959
for exploding this monstrous
and unnecessary weapon.
709
01:17:09,022 --> 01:17:11,757
They have been wholly unmoved
710
01:17:11,822 --> 01:17:16,244
by the dangers of radioactive
fallout to the human race.
711
01:17:16,322 --> 01:17:20,925
The United States delegation deeply deplores
712
01:17:20,999 --> 01:17:24,513
this contempt for world opinion.
713
01:17:24,586 --> 01:17:29,858
And we think that, in the light of this
somber development,
714
01:17:29,927 --> 01:17:33,952
other delegations may wish to
express their views
715
01:17:34,026 --> 01:17:37,807
on this shocking and distressing news.
716
01:17:38,325 --> 01:17:44,284
For today, Mr. Chairman, the world has taken
a great leap backward
717
01:17:44,324 --> 01:17:46,990
toward anarchy and disaster.
718
01:17:47,059 --> 01:17:51,108
The Russians had shattered
the voluntary moratorium.
719
01:17:51,181 --> 01:17:53,839
The United States would soon follow suit,
720
01:17:53,903 --> 01:17:58,234
with an extensive series of weapon tests
for massive retaliation.
721
01:18:11,925 --> 01:18:16,388
Tensions mounted, as nearly
100 nuclear tests were conducted
722
01:18:16,453 --> 01:18:19,971
between the Nevada test site
and the Pacific Ocean,
723
01:18:20,015 --> 01:18:24,799
under the code names
Nougat, Storax, and Dominic.
725
01:18:52,925 --> 01:18:55,583
Of primary importance were the uncertainties
726
01:18:55,647 --> 01:18:58,519
of offensive and defensive weapons systems
727
01:18:58,578 --> 01:19:02,692
in place, but unproven, since
the beginning of the voluntary moratorium.
729
01:19:24,525 --> 01:19:27,931
Operations resumed on Johnston Island
and Christmas Island
730
01:19:27,994 --> 01:19:30,038
during Operation Dominic.
731
01:19:30,645 --> 01:19:34,624
The United States negotiated the use
of Christmas Island from the British,
732
01:19:34,703 --> 01:19:38,488
who had used the island to conduct
their own thermonuclear tests.
733
01:19:40,564 --> 01:19:46,023
Multi-megaton nuclear weapons were loaded
aboard B-52 strategic bomber aircraft,
734
01:19:46,091 --> 01:19:51,298
delivered from Hawaii, and air-dropped
off the south end of Christmas Island.
735
01:22:02,625 --> 01:22:06,008
The Department of Defense continued
its advance into space
736
01:22:06,061 --> 01:22:10,520
by conducting five high-altitude
tests above Johnston Island.
737
01:22:10,564 --> 01:22:15,403
Most of these bombs were carried aloft
by the Air Force's Thor missile,
738
01:22:15,457 --> 01:22:17,148
to continue the research
739
01:22:17,182 --> 01:22:21,561
of neutralizing incoming enemy warheads
high above the Earth.
740
01:22:23,010 --> 01:22:27,413
Nuclear weapon testing
had joined the space age.
742
01:25:12,725 --> 01:25:16,207
This small step towards safety
can be followed by others,
743
01:25:16,271 --> 01:25:18,207
longer and less limited,
744
01:25:18,266 --> 01:25:20,938
if also harder in the taking.
745
01:25:20,991 --> 01:25:24,381
With our courage and understanding
enlarged by this achievement,
746
01:25:24,447 --> 01:25:29,996
let us press onward in quest of
man's essential desire for peace.
747
01:25:30,045 --> 01:25:34,055
As president of the United States, and
with the advice and consent of the Senate,
748
01:25:34,109 --> 01:25:38,506
I now sign the instruments
of ratification of this treaty.
749
01:25:38,541 --> 01:25:47,425
Tightrope was the last atmospheric
test ever conducted by the United States.
750
01:25:47,625 --> 01:25:49,751
And it was fired from Johnston Island
751
01:25:49,804 --> 01:25:53,107
in the Nike-Hercules air defense missile
752
01:25:53,156 --> 01:25:57,406
and detonated, again,
well above Johnston Island.
753
01:25:57,456 --> 01:26:03,116
And that ended this whole series of
atmospheric testing by the United States,
754
01:26:03,161 --> 01:26:09,571
when, in 1963 we entered the
Limited Test Ban Treaty,
755
01:26:09,640 --> 01:26:14,183
that prohibits any atmospheric testing.65053
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