Castle Bravo
E290915
Castle Bravo was the United States’ first and most powerful dry-fuel thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb test, conducted in 1954 and infamous for its unexpectedly massive yield and severe radioactive fallout.
All labels observed (4)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Castle Bravo canonical | 8 |
| Castle Bravo nuclear test | 1 |
| Castle Bravo test | 1 |
| Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident | 1 |
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States nuclear test
ⓘ
hydrogen bomb test ⓘ nuclear weapons test ⓘ thermonuclear weapon test ⓘ |
| actualYield |
15 megatons of TNT
ⓘ
approximately 15 Mt ⓘ |
| affectedArea |
Ailinginae Atoll
ⓘ
Marshall Islands region ⓘ Rongelap Atoll ⓘ Rongerik Atoll ⓘ Utirik Atoll ⓘ |
| affectedVessel | Daigo Fukuryu Maru ⓘ |
| casualties | one fatality on Daigo Fukuryu Maru from radiation sickness ⓘ |
| codename | Castle Bravo self-link ⓘ |
| consequence |
contributed to the movement toward a nuclear test ban
ⓘ
led to compensation claims by Marshall Islands residents ⓘ |
| controversy | triggered international concern over radioactive fallout ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| craterDepth | about 75 meters ⓘ |
| craterDiameter | about 1.9 kilometers ⓘ |
| date | 1954-03-01 ⓘ |
| deliveryMethod | surface detonation on a barge ⓘ |
| design | Teller–Ulam design ⓘ |
| deviceName | Shrimp ⓘ |
| distanceFromBikiniIsland | approximately 4.5 miles west of Bikini Island ⓘ |
| errorCause | underestimation of lithium-7 contribution to fusion reactions ⓘ |
| fallout |
caused extensive radioactive contamination
ⓘ
produced widespread radioactive fallout over inhabited atolls ⓘ |
| fuelType | dry lithium deuteride ⓘ |
| healthEffects |
caused acute radiation sickness among Marshallese inhabitants
ⓘ
caused long-term health problems including cancers in exposed populations ⓘ |
| location |
Bikini Atoll
ⓘ
Marshall Islands ⓘ |
| mushroomCloudHeight | about 40 kilometers ⓘ |
| mushroomCloudWidth | about 100 kilometers ⓘ |
| operator |
United States Atomic Energy Commission
ⓘ
Department of Defense ⓘ
surface form:
United States Department of Defense
|
| partOf | Operation Castle ⓘ |
| partOfSeries |
Pacific Proving Grounds
ⓘ
surface form:
Pacific Proving Grounds tests
|
| predictedYield |
5 megatons of TNT
ⓘ
approximately 5 Mt ⓘ |
| significance |
first U.S. test of a deliverable dry-fuel thermonuclear device
ⓘ
most powerful nuclear device ever tested by the United States ⓘ |
| stageCount | two-stage ⓘ |
| testSeriesNumber | first test in Operation Castle series ⓘ |
| testSite |
Bikini Atoll
ⓘ
surface form:
Bikini Atoll nuclear test site
|
| time | 06:45 local time ⓘ |
| weaponType |
dry-fuel thermonuclear bomb
ⓘ
hydrogen bomb ⓘ |
| year | 1954 ⓘ |
| yieldErrorFactor | about three times predicted yield ⓘ |
Referenced by (11)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Castle Bravo nuclear test
this entity surface form:
Castle Bravo test
this entity surface form:
Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident