I have always been fascinated by the subject of atomic weapons (how they work etc.) and this documentary was a good opportunity to see some decent footage. There is a lot of footage that is displayed in a linear fashion from detonating 100 tons of TNT in the 40's, to a propaganda film that may show the first successful Chinese test from the 60's (date was not given).
This documentary appears to give the best sense of what the US military themselves saw, however there are few cuts that go for longer than 10 seconds, which can be annoying for the slower detonations.
Watching moving pictures of detonations on DVD on a large TV screen gave a sense of how against nature setting off these things (especially the ones in the megaton range) are. The first few tests conducted were fascinating in a cool way to see science demonstrated, and the raw effects of a new technology. It was interesting to see in detail how the air reacts to a fission reaction being set off, and how nearby objects were affected. But the rest have the fascination of seeing the after-effects of an oil spill, it seems the US military was given license to build and test as many as they liked (and I'm sure the person who gave the Soviets the research was well-intentioned but the Soviets were just as eager to set off large quantities of these just for the hell of it). The ones in the pacific (not too far from Australia I might add) were the most egregious, one of these being constructed and set off is something that should never occur. I still can't believe the US was allowed to launch nukes into space and set them off just to see what happens. Unfortunately I myself am not safely tucked far away from the sites of nuclear explosions, tests were conducted several hundred kilometres north of where I live by the British (how nice of them).
In all I'd think that about 15 tests would need to be conducted (by the US) to determine all scenarios and types of nuclear weapons but an astonishing 331 were conducted. A military with these things is like giving a kid a bazooka to play with rather than a slingshot. I think the level of nervousness of the personnel showed in one of the pacific tests is reflective of the nature that these things shouldn't be set off. Like an adult version of a kid constructing a chlorine bomb (or a custom-made firecracker for countries where fireworks are legal) and wondering what havoc will be created when it goes off.
Unfortunately the "fun" didn't end after the footage shown in this film, France was detonating nukes underground in Muroroa Atoll (near Australia) in the mid nineties, and more recently Pakistan and India have been polluting their lands with tests.
The thing that started it all, Hitler developing nuclear weapons seems a little bit like Hussein and WMD, no evidence was uncovered of a German nuclear program. The Manhattan project and having working nuclear weapons by the mid 40's was completely unnecessary, it is yet another product of American paranoia (I wonder what historical reasons are behind their paranoid streak).
This documentary appears to give the best sense of what the US military themselves saw, however there are few cuts that go for longer than 10 seconds, which can be annoying for the slower detonations.
Watching moving pictures of detonations on DVD on a large TV screen gave a sense of how against nature setting off these things (especially the ones in the megaton range) are. The first few tests conducted were fascinating in a cool way to see science demonstrated, and the raw effects of a new technology. It was interesting to see in detail how the air reacts to a fission reaction being set off, and how nearby objects were affected. But the rest have the fascination of seeing the after-effects of an oil spill, it seems the US military was given license to build and test as many as they liked (and I'm sure the person who gave the Soviets the research was well-intentioned but the Soviets were just as eager to set off large quantities of these just for the hell of it). The ones in the pacific (not too far from Australia I might add) were the most egregious, one of these being constructed and set off is something that should never occur. I still can't believe the US was allowed to launch nukes into space and set them off just to see what happens. Unfortunately I myself am not safely tucked far away from the sites of nuclear explosions, tests were conducted several hundred kilometres north of where I live by the British (how nice of them).
In all I'd think that about 15 tests would need to be conducted (by the US) to determine all scenarios and types of nuclear weapons but an astonishing 331 were conducted. A military with these things is like giving a kid a bazooka to play with rather than a slingshot. I think the level of nervousness of the personnel showed in one of the pacific tests is reflective of the nature that these things shouldn't be set off. Like an adult version of a kid constructing a chlorine bomb (or a custom-made firecracker for countries where fireworks are legal) and wondering what havoc will be created when it goes off.
Unfortunately the "fun" didn't end after the footage shown in this film, France was detonating nukes underground in Muroroa Atoll (near Australia) in the mid nineties, and more recently Pakistan and India have been polluting their lands with tests.
The thing that started it all, Hitler developing nuclear weapons seems a little bit like Hussein and WMD, no evidence was uncovered of a German nuclear program. The Manhattan project and having working nuclear weapons by the mid 40's was completely unnecessary, it is yet another product of American paranoia (I wonder what historical reasons are behind their paranoid streak).