Operation Sculpin Explained

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

Sculpin
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:1990–1991
Number Of Tests:7
Test Type:underground shaft, tunnel
Max Yield:140ktTNT
Next Series:Operation Julin

The United States's Sculpin nuclear test series was a group of 7 nuclear tests conducted between October 1990 and September 1991. These tests[1] followed the Operation Aqueduct series and preceded the Operation Julin series.

Shots

Distant Zenith

Shot Distant Zenith included the experiment Hydroplus. The Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) developed a means of verifying non-standard nuclear tests using ground peak stress and velocity at several ranges from a possible detonation point using computer hydrocodes. These codes required calibration data which was gathered at Distant Zenith. Further Hydroplus experiments were conducted in shot Hunters Trophy of Operation Julin.

Full list of shots

United States' Sculpin series tests and detonations
- !style="background:#ffdead;" Name [2] !style="background:#efefef;" Date time (UT) !style="background:#ffdead;" Local time zone[3] [4] !style="background:#efefef;" Location[5] !style="background:#ffdead;" Elevation + height [6] !style="background:#efefef;" Delivery [7]
Purpose [8] !style="background:#efefef;" 		Device[9] !style="background:#ffdead;" Yield[10] !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Fallout[11] !style="background:#ffdead;" class="unsortable" References !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Notes - ! Tenabo 17:30:00.08 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20bb 37.2478°N -116.4951°W 1871m (6,138feet)–600m (2,000feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected - ! Coso-Bronze - 1 21:02:45.08 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4an 37.1044°N -116.0749°W 1254m (4,114feet)–333m (1,093feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Simultaneous, same drifts. - ! Coso-Gray - 2 21:02:45.08 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4an 37.1044°N -116.0749°W 1254m (4,114feet) + underground shaft,
weapons development 		Simultaneous, same drifts. - ! Coso-Silver - 3 21:02:45.08 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4an 37.1044°N -116.0749°W 1254m (4,114feet) + underground shaft,
safety experiment 		Simultaneous, same drifts. - ! Bexar 19:00:00.0 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U19ba 37.296°N -116.3138°W 2118m (6,949feet)–629.4m (2,065feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 0.5Ci - ! Montello 15:30:00.071 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20bf 37.2454°N -116.4425°W 1961m (6,434feet)–641.6m (2,105feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Floydada 16:00:00.0 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7cb 37.0873°N -116.0027°W 1280m (4,200feet)–502.9m (1,649.9feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Hoya 19:00:00.005 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20be 37.2256°N -116.429°W 1951m (6,401feet)–658m (2,159feet) underground shaft,
weapon effect 		Treaty verification test. - ! Distant Zenith 15:30:00.067 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U12p.04 37.2357°N -116.1673°W 1921m (6,302feet)–263.8m (865.5feet) tunnel,
weapon effect 		Venting detected, 0.4Ci Test included experiment Hydroplus.[12]

Notes and References

  1. A bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points and does not exceed 40 kilometers in length".Web site: V. N.. Mikhailov. Catalog of World Wide Nuclear Testing. Begell-Atom. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140426102201/http://www.iss-atom.ru/ksenia/catal_nt/1.htm. April 26, 2014.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Web site: Time Zone Historical Database. iana.com. March 8, 2014. March 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311224729/http://www.ietf.org/timezones/. live.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  9. 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.
  10. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  11. 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.
  12. Defense Nuclear Agency. Gaffney. Edward S. Smith. Eric A. Hydroplus Experimental Study of Dry, Saturated and Frozen Geological Materials. November 6, 2021. November 6, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211106081417/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA278837.pdf. live.

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