A Brief History
On November 4, 1962, the US conducted the last event of Operation Fishbowl, a series of nuclear blasts conducted at high altitude.
Digging Deeper
Operation Fishbowl consisted of 5 tests, part of the larger Operation Dominic, that in 1962 saw an incredible 31 nuclear blasts. Why so many nuclear test blasts in such a short time? Because the Soviets had resumed testing after an unofficial nuclear test moratorium between the superpowers from 1959 to 1961.
Luckily for the health of humans around the globe, the US, UK and USSR signed the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water in 1963, which allowed for underground nuclear blasts only. Unfortunately, other countries have since conducted above ground, or atmospheric nuclear test blasts in the years since.
Should nuclear weapons be banned? Is it even possible?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Higuchi, Toshihiro. Political Fallout: Nuclear Weapons Testing and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis. Stanford University Press, 2020.
Miller, Richard. Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing. Two Sixty Press, 1999.
The featured image in this article, a frame from a video by the Federal Government of the United States, is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
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