1971 underground nuclear weapons test on Amchitka island, Alaska, United States
A complete Spartan interceptor and warhead lowered into the shot hole.Cannikin shot cavity
Cannikin was an underground nuclear weapons test performed on November 6, 1971, on Amchitka island, Alaska, by the United States Atomic Energy Commission.[1] The experiment, part of the Operation Grommet nuclear test series, tested the unique W71 warhead design for the LIM-49 Spartan anti-ballistic missile.[2][3] With an explosive yield of almost 5 megatons of TNT (21 PJ), the test was the largest underground explosion ever detonated by the United States.[4]
Prior to the main five-megaton test in 1971, a 1 Mt (4.2 PJ) test took place on the island on October 2, 1969, for calibration purposes, and to ensure the subsequent Cannikin test could be contained.[4] This test, Milrow, was included in the Operation Mandrel nuclear test series.
The Cannikin test faced considerable opposition on environmental grounds. The campaigning environmental organization Greenpeace grew out of efforts to oppose the test.
^Mark Nuttall (2004). Encyclopedia of the Arctic. Routledge. ISBN 1579584365. the AEC instituted an extensive bioenvironmental program on Amchitka, and within a few years had completed Project Milrow, Project Long Shot, and Project Cannikin
^"Accomplishments in the 1970s: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory". Archived from the original on February 17, 2005. Retrieved October 9, 2006.
^Robert Rogalski (March 14, 2007). Classification Bulletin – TNP-29 – The fact that the Cannikin event was a proof test of the W71 warhead for the Spartan missile system (Report). Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Pursuant to section 142d of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, you determine that the following information can be published without undue risk to the common defense and security and can therefore be declassified and removed from the Formerly Restricted Data category: The fact that the Cannikin event was a proof test of the W71 warhead for the Spartan missile system.
^ abThe containment of underground nuclear explosions. 1989. This test, by far the highest-yield underground test ever conducted by the United States, was too large to be safely conducted in Nevada
Cannikin was an underground nuclear weapons test performed on November 6, 1971, on Amchitka island, Alaska, by the United States Atomic Energy Commission...
(330 TJ) blast in 1965; Milrow, a 1-megaton (4.2 PJ) blast in 1969; and Cannikin in 1971 – at 5 Mt (21 PJ), the largest underground test ever conducted...
a W71 prototype was successfully tested on 6 November 1971 in Project Cannikin of Operation Grommet in the world's largest underground nuclear test, on...
a UN World Heritage site. In the late 1960s, the U.S. had planned its Cannikin underground nuclear weapon test in the tectonically unstable island of...
to 1971 as part of the Vela Uniform program. The final detonation, the Cannikin, was the largest underground nuclear explosion by the U.S. Russian Aleutians...
the drinking songs in Act 2 Scene 3. The first of these, "And Let Me The Cannikin Clink", has no surviving arrangement, although it fits to several extant...
small to 220 565 Grommet 1971–1972 34 39 1 small to 4,800 5,200 Included Cannikin, the largest underground explosion ever at 5 Mt, fired under the Aleutian...
Novaya Zemlya Test #131 November 6, 1971 4.8 underground shaft USA Amchitka Cannikin July 10, 1956 4.5 barge USA Bikini Atoll Navajo August 27, 1962 4.2 air...
thermonuclear warhead at Amchitka Island in Alaska, code-named Project Cannikin. At around 5 megatons, it is the largest ever U.S. underground detonation...
Adagio cancelled, and moved to Amchitka Island in Alaska; see Milrow and Cannikin. Brush January 24, 1968 15:00:00.04 PST (–8 hrs) NTS Area U3eq 37°02′34″N...
warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka...
basis for subsequent decisions to agree to the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Cannikin, the last test at the facility on Amchitka, was detonated on 6 November...
Millrow test showed suitability, and the island was used for the 5 Mt Cannikin test, the largest underground test ever performed. Plowshare Sites Carlsbad...
Commission tests the largest U.S. underground hydrogen bomb, code-named Cannikin, on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians. 1977 – The Kelly Barnes Dam, located...
Greenpeace ship departs from Vancouver to protest against the upcoming Cannikin nuclear weapon test in Alaska. 1972 – A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic...
location for three underground nuclear detonations: Long Shot, Milrow and Cannikin. Project Larkspur, Amchitka Island, Alaska, Investigations of Areas 1,...
to serve as an example of this phenomenon being the Operation Grommet Cannikin test of the 5 megaton W71 warhead exploded deep underground on Amchitka...
Operation Grommet Grommet Cannikin, 4.8Mt. Largest U.S. Underground nuclear test. Information Country United States Test site Amchitka Island, Alaska NTS...
000 ft) underground shaft, weapons development 1 Mt Calibration for Grommet Cannikin test. Was initially named "Ganja", until someone in the DoE got wise to...
future tests. In 1970, the AEC announced plans to detonate a bomb named 'Cannikin', set to release a blast 385 times that released by the dropping of an...
thermonuclear warhead at Amchitka Island in Alaska, code-named Project Cannikin. At around 5 megatons, it is the largest ever U.S. underground detonation...
site, with the one megaton "Milrow" bomb in 1969, and the five megaton "Cannikin" in 1971. The purpose of the Longshot test was to determine whether an...
known as Greenpeace Two and used in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the Cannikin nuclear test in the Aleutians in November 1971. The vessel was then refitted...
petition by environmentalists to prevent the test, code-named Project Cannikin. At around five megatons, it was the largest ever U.S. underground detonation...
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