Operation Aqueduct

Aqueduct
Information
Country	United States
Test site	NTS Area 12, Rainier Mesa; NTS Area 19, 20, Pahute Mesa; NTS, Areas 1-4, 6-10, Yucca Flat
Period	1989-1990
Number of tests	10
Test type	underground shaft, underground tunnel
Max. yield	150 kilotonnes of TNT (630 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test series	Operation Cornerstone
Next test series	Operation Sculpin

The United States's Aqueduct nuclear test series^[1] was a group of 10 nuclear tests conducted in 1989-1990. These tests ^{[note 1]} followed the Operation Cornerstone series and preceded the Operation Sculpin series.

United States' Aqueduct series tests and detonations

Name [note 2]	Date time (UT)	Local time zone [note 3][2]	Location [note 4]	Elevation + height [note 5]	Delivery [note 6] Purpose [note 7]	Device [note 8]	Yield [note 9]	Fallout [note 10]	References	Notes
Hornitos	31 October 1989 15:30:00.085	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U20bc 37°15′47″N 116°29′30″W / 37.26305°N 116.49161°W	1,846 m (6,056 ft) - 562.94 m (1,846.9 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		150 kt		[1][3][4]
Muleshoe	15 November 1989 20:20:00.119	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U7bk 37°06′23″N 116°00′51″W / 37.10647°N 116.01425°W	1,311 m (4,301 ft) - 244.45 m (802.0 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]
Whiteface - 1	20 December 1989 22:00:00.06	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U3lp 37°01′33″N 116°01′55″W / 37.02584°N 116.03197°W	1,216 m (3,990 ft) - 196.9 m (646 ft)	underground shaft, safety experiment		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Simultaneous, same hole.
Whiteface - 2	20 December 1989 22:00:00.06	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U3lp 37°01′33″N 116°01′55″W / 37.02584°N 116.03197°W	1,216 m (3,990 ft) +	underground shaft, safety experiment		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Simultaneous, same hole.
Metropolis	10 March 1990 15:00:00.083	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U2gh 37°06′45″N 116°03′22″W / 37.11246°N 116.05605°W	1,246 m (4,088 ft) - 469.4 m (1,540 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		44 kt	Venting detected, 6 Ci (220 GBq)	[1][3][4][5][6]
Bowie	6 April 1990 17:00:00.047	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U3mk 37°04′04″N 115°59′34″W / 37.06765°N 115.99288°W	1,271 m (4,170 ft) - 213.4 m (700 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		100 t		[1][3][4][7]
Bullion	13 June 1990 16:00:00.079	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U20bd 37°15′42″N 116°25′16″W / 37.26155°N 116.42101°W	1,950 m (6,400 ft) - 673.9 m (2,211 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		150 kt		[1][3][4]
Justin	21 June 1990 18:15:00.0	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U6e 36°59′34″N 116°00′19″W / 36.99279°N 116.00536°W	1,174 m (3,852 ft) - 350.5 m (1,150 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		2 kt		[1][3][4]
Mineral Quarry - 2 (with Randsburg)	25 July 1990 15:00:00.06	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U12n.22 37°12′25″N 116°12′55″W / 37.20682°N 116.21514°W	2,216 m (7,270 ft) - 389.5 m (1,278 ft)	underground tunnel, weapon effect		10 kt	Venting detected, 0.5 Ci (19 GBq)	[1][3][4][6]	Simultaneous, same drifts.
Randsburg - 1 (with Mineral Quarry)	25 July 1990 15:00:00.0	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U12n.22a 37°12′25″N 116°12′55″W / 37.20682°N 116.21514°W	2,216 m (7,270 ft) +	underground tunnel, weapons development		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Simultaneous, same drifts.
Sundown - 1	20 September 1990 16:15:00.0	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U1d 37°02′18″N 116°03′27″W / 37.0382°N 116.05756°W	1,206 m (3,957 ft) - 270.4 m (887 ft)	underground shaft, safety experiment		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Simultaneous, same drifts.
Sundown - 2	20 September 1990 16:15:00.0	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U1d 37°02′18″N 116°03′27″W / 37.0382°N 116.05756°W	1,206 m (3,957 ft) +	underground shaft, safety experiment		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Simultaneous, same drifts.
Ledoux	27 September 1990 18:02:46.0	PST (-8 hrs)	NTS Area U1a.01 37°00′25″N 116°03′32″W / 37.00695°N 116.05899°W	1,191 m (3,907 ft) - 291 m (955 ft)	underground shaft, weapons development		less than 20 kt		[1][3][4]	Experimentally pumping a laser from a nuclear device.

1. A bomb test may be a salvo test, defined as two or more explosions "where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points and does not exceed 40 kilometers in length". Mikhailov, V. N., Editor in Chief. "Catalog of World Wide Nuclear Testing". Begell-Atom, LLC.
2. 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.
3. To 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 timezone data are derived from here:
4. Rough 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
8. Designations 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.
9. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
10. Radioactive 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

1. Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000), CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3), SMDC Monitoring Research
2. "Timezone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
3. Official list of underground nuclear explosions, Sandia National Laboratories, 1994-07-01, retrieved 2013-12-18
4. United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (PDF) (DOE/NV-209 REV15), Las Vegas, NV: Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office, 2000-12-01, retrieved 2013-12-18
5. Hechanova, Anthony E.; O'Donnell, James E. (1998-09-25), Estimates of yield for nuclear tests impacting the groundwater at the Nevada Test Site, Nuclear Science and Technology Division
6. Radiological Effluents Released from U.S. Continental Tests 1961 Through 1992 (DOE/NV-317 Rev. 1) (PDF), DOE Nevada Operations Office, August 1996, retrieved 2013-10-31
7. Norris, Robert Standish; Cochran, Thomas B. (1 February 1994), "United States nuclear tests, July 1945 to 31 December 1992 (NWD 94-1)" (PDF), Nuclear Weapons Databook Working Paper, Washington, DC: Natural Resources Defense Council, retrieved 2013-10-26