Nuclear Tests That Went Horribly Wrong

between 1945 and 1992 the united states  performed over 1 000 nuclear tests out of   those 216 were space underwater or atmospheric  tests while most of the testing took place at a   test site in nevada the united states military  tested the capabilities of these new weapons   in other places as well particularly  within the pacific ocean with such   immense power in their hands you would assume the  scientists would take extra precautions to ensure   innocent bystanders were not negatively impacted  from the nuclear warheads detonating nearby   however mistakes happen in every line of work  and there have been several cases where nuclear   testing went horribly off the rails while  there have only been a few tests gone awry   one error is one too many when you're dealing with  nuclear weapons it is estimated that because of   nuclear weapons testing in the united states  over 300 000 americans have lost their lives   today on underworld we're going to be going  over two nuclear tests that went horribly wrong   on march 1 1954 a group of military officers  scientists marshall island natives and fishermen   gathered on a small island to witness the testing  of a new nuclear weapon the testing was codenamed   castle bravo and its impact almost led to the  deaths of them all the experiment was designed to   test the first thermonuclear explosion that was  based on feasible technology the goal was that   this research would result in a deliverable h-bomb  the team designed a prototype wet fuel bomb that   was based on the ivy mic weapon designed just  a couple of years earlier the bomb in question   weighed 30 tons despite only measuring 5 feet wide  and 24 feet long however this bomb simply wasn't   practical which is why for castle bravo they used  dry fuel consisting of lithium deuteride which is   solid and more lightweight scientists estimated  that castle bravo would yield an explosion of   roughly 5 megatons with this in mind they based  where the safety zone would be where people could   watch the explosion and remain a safe distance  away castle bravo was set to go off at 6 45   local time and from the second it detonated  onlookers knew something had gone terribly wrong   the nuclear explosion produced an overwhelming  flash even brighter than what scientists expected   from nuclear blasts the blast was so bright that  men were able to see their bones appear as shadows   through their own flesh blinding light made its  way through every crack and pinhole within the   secured facilities the thermal radiation from  the blast was far more intense than they were   anticipating sailors on navy ships over 30 miles  away were reported as saying that it felt like a   blowtorch was being directed right at their bodies  the subsequent shock wave destroyed buildings far   outside the calculated damage zone the fireball  forming from the explosion measured at roughly   four miles in diameter and rose over a hundred  and thirty thousand feet above sea level oh and   did i mention that it was hotter than the surface  of the sun men who fought valiantly in world war   ii fell to their knees and began to pray remember  when we said that scientists expected the blast to   only be 5 megatons well when all was said and done  that blast was closer to 15 megatons the reason   for the miscalculation was due to a tritium bonus  that happened in the middle of the thermonuclear   reaction cascading neutrons in the bomb turned the  lithium-7 isotope into a mix of tritium and helium   and if you know nothing of thermonuclear dynamics  then you should know that tritium creates extreme   energetic fusion this blast was 1 000 times  greater than the atomic bomb dropped on hiroshima   and just when everyone in the vicinity thought  they were safe there was the matter of the   nuclear fallout meteorologists expected the  fallout to blow away from all inhabited areas   instead the opposite occurred with a radioactive  cloud blowing the fallout toward the population   it rained down on nearby ships as well as  united states service members stationed   on ronduric island the fallout also made its  way to a japanese fishing vessel where one man   died from radiation exposure resulting in  an international disaster between the u.s   and japan more so marshall island natives had to  leave the only home they had ever known because   the radiation was leading to increased cases  of thyroid cancer as well as birth defects   they returned briefly but had to evacuate  again due to fears of lingering radiation   and they never went back fallout continued in the  form of extensive legislation to limit further   testing of nuclear weapons in 1963 the u.s passed  the limited test ban treaty that outlawed any   further atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons  in 1990 congress passed the radiation exposure   compensation act which stated that the justice  department would offer a one-time payment of 75   000 to any and all atomic veterans for nuclear  testing related illnesses surprisingly records   show that only about 3 percent of such  atomic veterans have ever filed for a claim due to atmospheric testing being banned the  military and scientists had to go underground   if they wanted to test the capabilities of  nuclear weapons one such test known as the   bainberry test was scheduled to occur at 7 30  a.m on december 18 1970. the test was located   at a nevada test site the bomb was lowered more  than 900 feet into a hole a little over seven   feet in diameter it only took about three minutes  after the test began for people to realize that   something had gone horrifically wrong nearly 300  feet away from the hole where the bomb was planted   a fissure opened up in the ground this fissure  was just large enough to where a cloud of   radioactive vapor and dust began pouring into the  sky government workers immediately had to evacuate   from the test site but when you're dealing with a  nuclear bomb you don't exactly have a lot of time   hundreds of them ended up being exposed to the  radiation for many of the workers their exposure   remained within the established safety limits  however two men who had suffered from the highest   levels of exposure out of anyone later contracted  leukemia and passed away their widows fought for   compensation for years while courts ultimately  found the government to be negligent in this cast   it found that they were not liable and no money  was awarded the government also ended up doing   a test to determine why this went wrong they  halted all underground testing for six months   and eventually it was discovered that the geology  of the site along with its high water content   ultimately magnified the impact of the bomb  new rules were put into place regarding the   investigation of geology of potential test  sites before moving forward additionally new   rules had to be put into place to limit workers  potential exposure to radiation in the future in the above two examples there were terrifying  pictures of what these blasts looked like however   ultimately the blast isn't what ended up killing  anyone people remained at safe distances from the   detonations and while things went wrong no one  was near the blast site the real killer came in   the form of radioactive fallout the last nuclear  testing occurred in the 1990s and for good reason   new research has revealed that there has always  been a hidden cost of developing nuclear weapons   and it's in the form of numerous american deaths  between 1951 and 1973 it's estimated that anywhere   between 340 000 and 690 000 americans died as a  result of nuclear fallout in their own country   between 1951 and 1963 the us tested nuclear  weapons above ground inadvertently exposing   thousands of workers to fallout in high doses this  fallout is deadly to humans and even in low doses   it can still lead to cancer the emissions did not  remain localized at the test site instead wind   blew the fallout into local communities over  time it was revealed that towns near nuclear   testing sites had significantly higher rates of  cancer when compared to other cities much causes   could be as high as 690 000 it seems as though  the united states killed more of its own people   to develop these weapons the government has taken  steps to reduce the number of people exposed to   radioactive materials additionally there was some  blind luck associated with reducing the number of   poisoned individuals a great deal of nuclear  testing occurred in nevada which had a low   atmospheric dispersal rate meaning the fallout was  less likely to make its way to nearby communities   the government was actually looking at other  testing facilities before it decided on nevada   and it turns out that decision could have saved  hundreds upon thousands of lives unfortunately   the impact of these tests lingers in american  society it's entirely plausible that millions of   americans were exposed to fallout and suffer from  illnesses related to that exposure those people   now rely on the government to fund health care  nuclear testing has fallen to the wayside with   the last test occurring in 1992 this was due  to the adoption of the comprehensive nuclear   test ban treaty that was created by the united  nations general assembly this treaty bans all   nuclear explosions for both military and civilian  purposes the treaty has not entered into force   with eight nations not yet ratifying nuclear  weapons have a complicated spot in history

Channel: Underworld

Views: 6,299,089

Keywords: Underworld, Underworld channel, Top 10, Top 5, Facts, viral, recent discoveries, mystery, scary, 2020, that went horribly wrong, went wrong, gone wrong, nuclear, atomic, atomic tests, nuclear tests, castle bravo, baneberry test, caught on camera, amazing facts, testing, nuclear tests gone wrong, atomic tests gone wrong, castle bravo test

Id: T-o4h0eoLlc

Length: 10min 15sec (615 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 26 2020