Operation Guardian Explained

See also: List of nuclear weapons tests of the United States.

Guardian
Country:United States
Test Site:NTS Area 12, Rainier Mesa; NTS Area 19, 20, Pahute Mesa; NTS, Areas 1–4, 6–10, Yucca Flat
Period:1980–1981
Number Of Tests:14
Test Type:underground shaft, tunnel
Max Yield:140ktTNT
Next Series:Operation Praetorian

Operation Guardian was a series of 14 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1980–1981 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the Operation Tinderbox series and preceded the Operation Praetorian series.

United States' Guardian series tests and detonations
- !style="background:#ffdead;" Name [1] !style="background:#efefef;" Date time (UT) !style="background:#ffdead;" Local time zone[2] [3] !style="background:#efefef;" Location[4] !style="background:#ffdead;" Elevation + height [5] !style="background:#efefef;" Delivery [6]
Purpose [7] !style="background:#efefef;" 		Device[8] !style="background:#ffdead;" Yield[9] !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Fallout[10] !style="background:#ffdead;" class="unsortable" References !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Notes - ! Miners Iron 18:00:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U12n.11 37.2112°N -116.2063°W 2212m (7,257feet) – 389.5m (1,277.9feet) tunnel,
weapon effect 		Venting detected, 0.3Ci - ! Dauphin 16:50:00.084 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U9cq 37.1114°N -116.0195°W 1306m (4,285feet) – 320m (1,050feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Experimental test for nuclear pumped x-ray laser [11] - ! Baseball 20:25:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7ba 37.0868°N -116.0459°W 1232m (4,042feet) – 563.88m (1,850feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Stockpile confidence test[12] - ! Clairette 18:00:00.117 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3kr 37.0109°N -116.0329°W 1182m (3,878feet) – 353.6m (1,160.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Seco 15:00:00.082 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U8l 37.1819°N -116.0851°W 1356m (4,449feet) – 200m (700feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Vide 14:35:00.084 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U8k 37.1773°N -116.0857°W 1346m (4,416feet) – 323m (1,060feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 3Ci - ! Aligote 16:00:00.094 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7bg 37.1018°N -116.0049°W 1311m (4,301feet) – 320m (1,050feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Harzer 18:00:00.084 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U19aj 37.3033°N -116.3265°W 2073m (6,801feet) – 637m (2,090feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Niza 14:00:00.096 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U9cr 37.1286°N -116.0346°W 1266m (4,154feet) – 341m (1,119feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		I-131 venting detected, 0 - ! Pineau 15:00:00.096 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7ao 37.0887°N -116.0202°W 1259m (4,131feet) – 207.26m (679.99feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Havarti 13:41:00.086 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U10bg 37.1537°N -116.0359°W 1283m (4,209feet) – 200m (700feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		I-131 venting detected, 0 - ! Islay 14:31:00.088 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2er 37.1604°N -116.0674°W 1297m (4,255feet) – 294m (965feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 700Ci - ! Trebbiano 15:00:00.103 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3lj 37.0581°N -116.0489°W 1211m (3,973feet) – 305.4m (1,002feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 200Ci - ! Cernada 15:00:00.089 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3kk 37.0085°N -116.0245°W 1181m (3,875feet) – 213.2m (699.5feet) underground shaft,
weapons development

Notes and References

  1. The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions  - Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1  - 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  2. To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
  3. Web site: Time Zone Historical Database. iana.com. March 8, 2014.
  4. Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  5. Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  6. Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  7. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  8. Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  9. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  10. Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.
  11. Book: Broad. William J.. Star warriors : a penetrating look into the lives of the young scientists behind our space age weaponry. 1985. Simon and Schuster. New York. 0671545663. 116.
  12. Web site: Lists of motion picture films and videos at The National. Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), 2014 . Government Attic . 2 December 2020 . 77 . "BASEBALL stockpile Confidence Test".

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Operation Guardian".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.