Operation Quicksilver (1978) Explained

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

Quicksilver
Country:United States
Test Site:NTS Area 19, 20, Pahute Mesa; NTS, Areas 1–4, 6–10, Yucca Flat
Period:1978–1979
Number Of Tests:2634
Test Type:underground shaft
Max Yield:140ktTNT
Next Series:Operation Tinderbox

Operation Quicksilver was a series of 16 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1978–1979 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the Operation Cresset series and preceded the Operation Tinderbox series.

United States' Quicksilver 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 - ! Emmenthal 15:25:00.169 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U19t 37.2879°N -116.2984°W 2104m (6,903feet) – 576.1m (1,890.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Concentration 17:07:30.073 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3kn 37.0297°N -116.0249°W 1189m (3,901feet) – 247.59m (812.3feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Farm 15:30:00.158 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20ab 37.2733°N -116.4112°W 1979m (6,493feet) – 689m (2,260feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected - ! Baccarat 18:00:00.1 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7ax 37.1054°N -116.0125°W 1311m (4,301feet) – 326.44m (1,071feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Quinella 20:00:00.089 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4l 37.1024°N -116.0557°W 1241m (4,072feet) – 579.1m (1,899.9feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Kloster 18:05:00.165 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2eo 37.152°N -116.0727°W 1297m (4,255feet) – 536.4m (1,759.8feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected - ! Memory 18:30:00.095 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3kg 37.0278°N -116.0406°W 1190m (3,900feet) – 364.85m (1,197.01feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Freezeout 16:00:00.102 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3kw 36.9982°N -116.0184°W 1177m (3,862feet) – 335.3m (1,100.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Pepato 14:00:00.17 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20ad 37.2896°N -116.4561°W 1913m (6,276feet) – 681m (2,234feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		I-131 venting detected, 0 - ! Chess 15:00:13.542 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7at 37.1076°N -116.0159°W 1309m (4,295feet) – 335.3m (1,100.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Fajy 14:44:00.167 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2fc 37.1431°N -116.0885°W 1303m (4,275feet) – 536m (1,759feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		I-131 venting detected, 0 - ! Burzet 15:07:30.164 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4ai 37.0839°N -116.0708°W 1235m (4,052feet) – 450m (1,480feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected - ! Offshore 15:00:00.112 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3ks 37.0147°N -116.0089°W 1182m (3,878feet) – 396.54m (1,300.98feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Hearts 15:00:00.089 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4n 37.0881°N -116.0536°W 1232m (4,042feet) – 640.02m (2,099.8feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Destroyed Cresset/Transom device which didn't detonate. - ! Pera 17:02:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U10bd 37.155°N -116.0391°W 1280m (4,200feet) – 200m (700feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Sheepshead 15:00:00.091 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U19aa 37.2294°N -116.3648°W 2033m (6,670feet) – 640m (2,100feet) 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.

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