Castle Bravo instrumentation bunker

Marshall Islands / Mili / Arbar /
This is the surviving concrete foundation of a heavily reinforced bunker that held instruments for measuring neutron and gamma radiation from the exploding "Shrimp" device tested on March 1, 1954 as Castle Bravo. The bunker instruments were connected to the device by a set of evacuated pipes. The vacuum was necessary to keep the air from blocking the radiation.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   11°42'16"N   165°17'41"E

Comments

  • I'm sorry this is not strictly correct. the vacuum was necessary because the instruments collecting the data were going to be vapourised int he experiment. the data had to be collected extremly quickly. the vacuum allowed measurements to be taken moments after the detonation but before the instruments had been destroyed. in this case, it didnt work. the explosion was much larger than predicted and both the tubes and measuring devices were destroyed. i am also not entirly certain they were vacuum tubes. wernt they filled with hydrogen or helium or something? Peter
  • Nope, all wrong. The tubes were actually filled with whipped cream.
  • It was a helium filled tube within plywood I believe. The idea was the gamma rays would travel faster through the helium to the measuring station in the instrument bunker on Nam. Dont know wether it worked or not but the fireball was much larger than expected so maybe the bunker suffered damage?
  • Rosco is correct the long causeway to the recording bunker was filled with helium.
This article was last modified 12 years ago