Project 58

Project 58
Coulomb-C detonation
Information
Country	United States
Test site	Nevada National Security Site
Period	December 1957
Number of tests	2
Test type	Underground / Surface
Max. yield	500 tons of TNT (2,100 GJ)
Navigation
Previous test	Operation Plumbbob
Next test	Project 58A

Project 58 was a series of two nuclear tests conducted by the United States in Area 3 of the Nevada National Security Site in 1957.^[1]

Both tests were one-point safety tests.^[2] They were intended to "freeze" device designs prior to full-scale tests at Hardtack. No significant yield was expected from either, but the second, Coulomb-C, a surface test conducted on December 9, produced an unanticipated yield of 500 tons. Shortly after detonation, fallout readings of fifty roentgens per hour were recorded on the Mercury Highway, and, as the cloud moved toward the southwest, personnel at Jackass Flats involved in construction for future nuclear rocket testing were forced to take cover. Eventually, the cloud reached the Los Angeles area where very low readings briefly caused some public concern.^[3]

Tests

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of Energy.

References

1. ^ U.S. Department of Energy / Nevada Operations Office, United States Nuclear Tests - July 1945 through September 1992, December 2000, DOE/NV-209 Rev 15
2. ^ "Projects 57, 58, and 58A". The Nuclear Weapon Archive. http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Proj57-58.html. 
3. ^ U.S. Department of Energy, Battlefield of the Cold War, The Nevada Test Site, Volume 1, Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Testing, 1951-1963, DOE/MA-0003