Minor Scale

Minor Scale was a test conducted on June 27, 1985, by the United States Defense Nuclear Agency (now part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) involving the detonation of several thousand tons of conventional explosives to simulate the explosion of a small nuclear bomb. The purpose of the test was to evaluate the effect of nuclear blasts on various pieces of military hardware, particularly new, blast-hardened launchers for the MGM-134 Midgetman ballistic missile.[1]

Not to be confused with the musical concept minor scale.
Minor Scale
Minor Scale fireball immediately after detonation. The F-4 Phantom aircraft in the foreground is 63 feet (19 m) long.
Information
CountryUnited States
Test siteWhite Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
Coordinates33.6210°N 106.4746°W / 33.6210; -106.4746
DateJune 27, 1985
Number of tests1
AgencyDefense Nuclear Agency
ExplosiveANFO
ConfigurationSegmented hemisphere
Yield4 kilotons of TNT (17 TJ)
Test chronology

The test took place at the Permanent High Explosive Testing Grounds of the White Sands Missile Range in the state of New Mexico, for which 4,744 tons of ANFO explosive (ammonium nitrate and fuel oil),[2][3] equivalent to 4 kilotons of TNT,[4] were used to roughly simulate the effect of an eight kiloton air-burst nuclear device. With a total energy release of about 17 TJ (or 4.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent), Minor Scale was reported as "the largest planned conventional explosion in the history of the free world",[5] surpassing another large conventional explosion, the "British Bang" disposal of ordnance on Heligoland in 1947, reported to have released 13 TJ of energy (about 3.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent).[6]

The Q&A released as part of the effort states: "Future tests are not expected to get bigger than Minor Scale", and in particular, "There are no plans for a test called Major Scale".[7]

See also

References
  1. Summary of Minor Scale from nuclearfiles.org
  2. "Minor Scale Event, Test Execution Report". Albuquerque, N.M.: Tech Reps. 1986. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2011.
  3. J. Fitzgerald (1986). "Technical Report LA-10657-MS: Bistatic Phase Sounding in the Ionosphere above the Minor Scale Explosion" (PDF). Los Alamos National Labs.
  4. Minor Scale Event Test Execution Report, p. 135
  5. "Test Blast: Official Portrait".
  6. Willmore, PL (1949). "Seismic Experiments on the North German Explosions, 1946 to 1947". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. JSTOR. 242 (843): 123–151. Bibcode:1949RSPTA.242..123W. doi:10.1098/rsta.1949.0007. JSTOR 91443.
  7. Minor Scale Event, Test Execution Report, p. 137.
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