Details of the US Air Force operation Cannikin, which took place 50 years ago, have emerged. In the bowels of the island of Amchitka near Alaska, a five-megaton nuclear charge designed for use in space was detonated.
The tests were carried out to refine the W71 warhead - it was supposed to be equipped with the LIM-49 Spartan transatmospheric interceptors of the missile defense system. The charge was different from other nuclear warheads - a container of beryllium was added to it to generate hard X-rays. Passing through the target's warhead, it causes a "pop effect" - a megaton-class nuclear charge explodes like a firecracker at a children's party.
To accurately simulate the propagation of radiation in space, the entire third stage of LIM-49 was placed at a depth of 1.8 kilometers - the massive assembly was lowered into the bowels of the earth along a shaft with a diameter of 2.3 meters. At the point of the explosion, a spherical chamber with a diameter of 16 meters was created.
The explosion of a 5-megaton charge caused an earthquake on the surface with a force of 7 points on the Richter scale. The video clearly shows the work of the shock-absorbing supports of the platforms with the equipment and the sliding of the supports on specially prepared platforms. Cannikin was the most powerful underground nuclear explosion in the history of mankind.
Anton Valagin
