Declassified U.S. Nuclear Test Film #70

0800070 - Atomic Weapons Orientation Part Five - Effects of Atomic Weapons; Atomic Weapons Orientation Part Six - A Special Weapon Orientation: The Thermonuclear Weapon -1956 41:34 - Black&White and Color - Two Films on One Video

Atomic Weapons Orientation Part Five - Effects of Atomic Weapons - 12:22 - This video shows the heat, blast, and radiation effects of a nuclear explosion on personnel (dummies), structures, and military equipment. The video is a compilation of numerous nuclear detonations in the atmospheric testing program, but does not identify each blast. All types of detonations, including underground, surface, near surface and high altitude are shown.

Atomic Weapons Orientation Part Six - A Special Weapon Orientation: The Thermonuclear Weapon - 29:12 - This video provides a history and the major developmental phases of the thermonuclear program up to May 1, 1956. The test operations of Greenhouse, Ivy and Castle are highlighted. The GEORGE test in Operation Greenhouse was the first thermonuclear test explosion. It was followed by the MIKE test in Operation Ivy, which used a liquid, or "wet" fuel. A wet fuel was very expensive, as it had to be super cooled until used. The first test in Operation Castle, BRAVO, used a dry fuel successfully, and that ended the debate over wet versus dry fuel.

Two continuing goals remained: (1) determine how to reduce the size and weight of the thermonuclear weapon, and (2) gather information on the effects of high-yield weapons. Regarding size and weight, the video shows a series of weapons that gradually are reduced in these aspects. Also, it shows the air delivery capabilities of these weapons, including footage on the B-47, the B-36 and the B-52 aircraft. On the effects aspect, the video defines fallout and describes what kind of path it leaves, the dangers from it, and how to protect oneself. It shows the destructive forces of a thermonuclear weapon in many ways, including how the MIKE test destroyed the island of Eluglab. A dramatic scene develops at the end as the narrator says, "This is the detonation of a thermonuclear weapon on Enewetok Atoll. This is a man standing on Bikini Atoll, 200 miles away." The light and boiling cloud of colors illuminates the entire sky almost as if the explosion was only a few miles away.