Operation Latchkey was a series of 38 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1966–1967 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the Operation Flintlock series and preceded the Operation Crosstie series.
Nuclear tests Persimmon Persimmon included a vertical line-of-sight pipe fitted with a fast-acting closure. At the time of detonation, this vacuum pipe provided a pathway for neutrons from the nuclear device to travel to instruments in a tower located above the shot hole. A few seconds after detonation, these instruments and their samples were dragged out of the tower on a sled, before the subsidence crater formed and destroyed the tower.
List of the nuclear tests
+ United States' Latchkey series tests and detonations Name The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known. Date time (UT) Local time zoneTo convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. All historical time zone data are derived from here: LocationRough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area. Elevation + height Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together. Delivery Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.Purpose Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down. DeviceDesignations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed. YieldEstimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie). FalloutRadioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released. References Notes Saxon 15:33:30.13 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2cc – underground shaft,peaceful research
Venting detected,
Project Plowshare - excavation device development. Rovena 13:16:00.07 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10s – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected,
Tangerine 15:36:00.05 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3eb – underground shaft,safety experiment
Derringer 15:30:00.54 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U5i – underground shaft,weapon effect
Venting detected off site,
Daiquiri 18:00:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U7o – underground shaft,weapons development
Newark 14:45:30.09 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10u – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected,
Khaki 19:00:00.05 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3et – underground shaft,weapons development
Simms 14:45:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10w – underground shaft,peaceful research
Venting detected,
Plowshare - evaluate clean nuclear explosives for excavation. Ajax 12:00:00.14 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U9al – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected on site,
Cerise 15:02:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3eu – underground shaft,weapons development
I-131 venting detected, 0
Vigil 15:00:00.13 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10ad – underground shaft,safety experiment
Venting detected on site,
Sterling 12:15:00.05 CST (–6 hrs) Salmon Site, near Lumberton, Mississippi – underground shaft,joint verification
Project Vela Uniform/Dribble. Exploded inside the cavity created by Whetstone/Salmon in Tatum salt dome. Sidecar 17:50:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3ez – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected on site,
New Point 21:00:00.08 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U11c – underground shaft,weapon effect
Venting detected on site,
Greeley 15:30:00.08 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U20g - – underground shaft,weapons development
Test of Spartan warhead (W71). Rivet 1 14:55:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10aa – underground shaft,weapons development
Nash 16:45:00.14 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2ce – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected off site,
Bourbon 17:40:04.41 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U7n – underground shaft,weapons development
Rivet 2 16:30:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10z – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected on site,
Ward 15:15:00.13 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10x – underground shaft,weapons development
Persimmon 18:34:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3dn – underground shaft,weapons development
Agile 18:50:00.13 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2v – underground shaft,weapons development
Rivet 3 15:00:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U10y – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected
Mushroom 15:19:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3ef – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected on site,
Fizz 15:00:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3fr – underground shaft,safety experiment
Oakland 14:20:00.15 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2bi – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected,
Heilman 15:00:00.12 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2cg – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected on site,
Fawn 15:00:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3eo – underground shaft,weapons development
Chocolate 15:09:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3es – underground shaft,weapons development
Effendi 14:45:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2ap – underground shaft,weapons development
Mickey 13:40:00.041 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U7m – underground shaft,weapons development
Commodore 15:00:00.2 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U2am – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected, less than
Scotch 14:00:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U19as – underground shaft,weapons development
Absinthe 12:30:00.03 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3ep – underground shaft,safety experiment
Knickerbocker 15:00:01.5 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U20d – underground shaft,weapons development
Venting detected,
Switch 13:10:00.0 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U9bv – underground shaft,peaceful research
Venting detected off site, less than
Project Plowshare - evaluate clean nuclear explosives for excavation. Midi Mist 16:00:00.08 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U12n.02 – tunnel,weapon effect
Venting detected,
Umber 11:25:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3em – underground shaft,weapon effect
Venting detected off site,
References