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Sundial was the codename of one of two massive nuclear bombs planned for testing by the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch as part of a classified[1][2] American weapons project in the early 1950s.[3][4] Announced by Edward Teller at a meeting of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, it was intended to have a yield of 10 gigatons of TNT, while its counterpart, Gnomon, was intended to have a yield of 1 gigaton.[5]
If built and detonated, Sundial would have created a fireball up to 50 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter, instantly igniting everything within 400 kilometers (250 miles) and causing a magnitude 9 earthquake. It was thought that the explosion would lead to an apocalyptic nuclear winter, drastically lowering global temperatures and contaminating water sources, resulting in mass fatalities.
- ^ "2013 FOIA Log" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
- ^ "Case No. FIC-15-0005" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ Simha, Rakesh Krishnan (2016-01-05). "Nuclear overkill: The quest for the 10 gigaton bomb". Russia Beyond. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ Wellerstein, Alex (2021-10-29). "The untold story of the world's biggest nuclear bomb". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
- ^ Wellerstein, Alex (12 September 2012). "In Search of a Bigger Boom".