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Sandstone was the second testing series the United States conducted. President Truman gave the green light for Sandstone on June 27, 1947. Following the two shot Crossroads operation, Sandstone was an AEC scientific test series. While Crossroads was a weapons effects test on naval ships, Sandstone’s goal was to test experimental designs. Joint Task Force 7 (JTF 7) conducted the test operations. JTF 7 was a joint military and civilian organization, over 10,000 personnel participated in Sandstone. Sandstone tested new versions of already existing implosion design weapons. Initially developed at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project, these new designs were never tested up until Sandstone. Sandstone was the first series that tested implosion systems without plutonium cores. Highly enriched uranium, called oralloy, substituted plutonium on all three shots. Other experimental principles tested were varying tamper thickness, varying the amount of fissile material in the core, and using a polonium-beryllium Urchin neutron initiator. Sandstone also used the Mk-3 implosion system, but it also proof-tested components that would be used in the Mk-4 bomb.
Following Sandstone, the X-ray and Zebra core designs had been immediately introduced into the U.S. stockpile. This lead to a 75% increase in the U.S. nuclear stockpile at that time. The United States had only 13 weapons stockpiled at the time Sandstone was conducted. Enewetak Atoll was selected as a test site on October 11, 1947. Several other Marshall Islands were inspected as possible test sites. Enewetak was chosen because it was large enough to sustain three shots. Also, trade winds would carry fall-out west over open ocean. Also trade wind orientation in respect to Enewetak Island made it possible to construct an air field. 140 people lived on Enewetak when it was chosen as a test site. They were moved to Ujelang Atoll, which had been uninhabited since the last nineteenth century when a typhoon swept over the atoll. The U.S. Navy constructed cisterns, water catchments, latrines, tent frames, and other buildings on Ujelang in November 1947. Enewetak was official closed off on December 2, 1947. By December 20th, all natives of the atoll were moved. Testing in the Pacific proved to have many logistical problems. Enewetak Atoll also became overcrowded during testing. Lack of bridges connecting the different islands meant landing craft had to do the bulk of the transport work between islands. Security risks during transportation of the nuclear devices from the main land were also a major concern. |
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