Atmospheric Nuclear Detonation - Union

Test:Union; Date:April 25, 1954;
Operation:Castle; Site:Barge 13ft above surface, Bikini atoll;
Detonation:Barge Shot; Yield:6.9 Mgt; Type:Fission/Fusion;

   This was a test of the "Alarm Clock" type device that was a prototype of the weapon already deployed by US militay with the name EC-14. It was a dry fuel thermonuclear bomb using 95% enriched lithium-6 deuteride as thermonuclear fuel. lithium-6 deuteride was very expensive and not available in large quantities. Which resulted in a limited number od deployed weapons. The test device itself was 61.4 inches wide, 135 inches long. Weight - 27,700 lb. RACER IV was used as a primary. Of the 6.9 Mt yield 5 Mt was due to fission (72.5%). Even if it was not as powerful as Bravo or Romeo tests the explosion still left 300 foot wide, 90 foot deep crater in the lagoon bottom.