Sedan nuclear test
JUL 06, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031257
On this day in 1962 the US conducted the Sedan nuclear test. Part of Operation Plowshare, the test was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of using nuclear devices to excavate large amounts of rock. The explosion, which took place 194 meters beneath the surface of the Nevada desert, did indeed create a giant crater (nearly 400 meters in diameter and 100 meters deep), but it also rained radioactive isotopes over several US counties. The fallout of some isotopes, including iodine-131, was the highest ever from a US test.
Date in History: 6 July 1962
© 2016 American Institute of Physics
