Effects of Atomic Weapons on Electric Utilities: Report to the Test Director; Operation Teapot Nevada Test Site February-May 1955 Project 35.1, WT 1173

Washington DC: Edison Electric Institute and the Federal Civil Defense Administration, 1965. Defense Technical Information Center reprint 2004. Wraps, with two staples on left side. [1], 44, [1] pages, plus covers. Mailing label on back cover. Red lettering on spine. The authors were associated with the Edison Electric Institute and the Federal Civil Defense Administration. Contents include: Introduction. Equipment and Preshot Tests, Observations, Effects and Conclusions. There are numerous illustrations. Quality of illustrations vary and are inferior to those in an original copy. Duplicate electric-power installations consisting of transmission, substation, and distribution equipment were constructed in areas 4700 and 10,500 ft from Ground Zero (GZ) for use in Project 35.1 in the Apple II shot. The Test was made to determine the median survival range of the electric equipment; the extent of damage and the nature of the repairs required to restore disrupted service; and the ability of electric systems, in comparison to industrial plants and the residential communities they serve, to withstand the effects of an atomic explosion. The damage was confined to the transmission and distribution circuits at the 4700-ft area and was of such a nature that the equipment could have been easily and quickly repaired. In the same area, typical homes were completely destroyed. Operation Teapot was a series of fourteen nuclear test explosions conducted at the Nevada Test Site in the first half of 1955. It was preceded by Operation Castle, and followed by Operation Wigwam. Wigwam was, administratively, a part of Teapot, but it is usually treated as a class of its own. The aims of the operation were to establish military tactics for ground forces on a nuclear battlefield and to improve the nuclear weapons used for strategic delivery. The Civil Defense Apple-2 shot on May 5, 1955 was intended to test various building construction types in a nuclear blast. An assortment of buildings, including residential houses and electrical substations, were constructed at the site nicknamed "Survival Town" by some and "Doom Town" by others. The buildings were populated with mannequins, and stocked with different types of canned and packaged foods. Not all of the buildings were destroyed in the blast, and some of them still stand at Area 1, Nevada Test Site. A short film about the blast, referred to as "Operation Cue", was distributed by the Federal Civil Defense Administration. The houses are still standing at 37.04476°N 116.07416°W, at the east and west ends of the road loop. They are stops on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) tour. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Atomic Explosion, Weapon Effects, Civil Effects, WT-1173, Transmission Line, Substation, Electric Utilities, Distribution Line, Damage Assessment, Thermal Effect

[Book #83102]

Price: $75.00