Plans For Nuclear Testing
With the pullout of military forces from Amchitka in 1950, the Department of Defense initially considered the island for nuclear testing planned for 1951. Requiring information about the cratering potential of nuclear weapons, plans were made to detonate two 20-kiloton (84 TJ) devices. After approximately 34 test holes had been drilled, the site was deemed unsuitable, and the project was moved to the Nevada test site.
In the late 1950s, scientists realized that improved seismological knowledge was necessary for the detection of Soviet underground nuclear explosions. The 1.7-kiloton (7.1 TJ) "Rainier" test (part of Operation Plumbbob, performed in Nevada) produced strong seismic signals, but looked much like an ordinary earthquake. In 1959, Dr. James R. Killian, the Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, formed the Panel on Seismic Improvement (which subsequently recommended the program that came to be known as Vela Uniform), with the twin goals of improving seismic instruments and deploying them globally, and researching in more depth the seismic effects of nuclear explosions. The project was subsequently initiated by the Eisenhower administration.
Together with the Atomic Energy Commission, the DoD began assessing Amchitka for use as part of the Vela Uniform tests.
Read more about this topic: Amchitka
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