| Ivy Mike | |
|---|---|
 Detonation and subsequent mushroom cloud of the "Mike" shot (in fast motion). | |
| Information | |
| Country | United States Marshall Islands |
| Test series | Operation Ivy |
| Test site | Enewetak, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands |
| Date | November 1, 1952 |
| Test type | Atmospheric |
| Yield | 10.4 megatons of TNT |
| Test chronology | |
Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device, in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion.[1][2][3] Ivy Mike was detonated on November 1, 1952, by the United States on the island of Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll, in the now independent island nation of the Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Ivy. It was the first full test of the Teller–Ulam design, a staged fusion device.[4]
Due to its physical size and fusion fuel type (cryogenic liquid deuterium), the "Mike" device was not suitable for use as a deliverable weapon. It was intended as a "technically conservative" proof of concept experiment to validate the concepts used for multi-megaton detonations.[4]
Samples from the explosion had traces of the isotopes plutonium-246, plutonium-244, and the predicted elements einsteinium and fermium.[5]
- ^ "Operation Greenhouse – 1951". Atomic Shadows. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ The first small-scale thermonuclear test was the George explosion of Operation Greenhouse.
- ^ United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (PDF) (DOE/NV-209 REV15), Las Vegas, NV: Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office, December 1, 2000, archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2010, retrieved December 18, 2013
- ^ a b Wellerstein, Alex (January 8, 2016). "A Hydrogen Bomb by Any Other Name". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Distillationswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).