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Minor Scale
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<h2 id="test">Test</h2> <p>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 <a href="/facts/MGM-134_Midgetman/FXyvoe5U">MGM-134 Midgetman</a> <a href="/facts/Ballistic_missile/Pl6juY73">ballistic missile</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p><p>The test took place at the Permanent High Explosive Testing Grounds of the <a href="/facts/White_Sands_Missile_Range/JUsgxDjF">White Sands Missile Range</a> in the state of <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a>, for which 4,744 tons of <a href="/facts/ANFO/1b3Ys4MS">ANFO</a> explosive (ammonium nitrate and fuel oil),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> equivalent to 4 kilotons of TNT,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> 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 <a href="/facts/TNT_equivalent/nEQ5z8mp">TNT equivalent</a>), Minor Scale was reported as "the largest planned conventional explosion in the history of the free world",<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> surpassing another large conventional explosion, the "<a href="/facts/Operation_Big_Bang/UJ5qgc0g">British Bang</a>" disposal of ordnance on <a href="/facts/Heligoland/UJ5qgc0g">Heligoland</a> in 1947, reported to have released 13 TJ of energy (about 3.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>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".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/High_explosive_nuclear_effects_testing/fQUQ35BP">High explosive nuclear effects testing</a>, list of non-nuclear explosives tests</li> <li><a href="/facts/Misty_Picture/c9bRv3oh">Misty Picture</a>, a similar test</li> <li><a href="/facts/Operation_Sailor_Hat/QM8YmlfK">Operation Sailor Hat</a>, a similar test that evaluated the effects of nuclear blasts on naval vessels</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/testing-effects-intro.htm">Nuclear Effects Testing – Introduction</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Summary of Minor Scale from nuclearfiles.org <a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/image/tredici/34.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/image/tredici/34.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Minor Scale Event, Test Execution Report". Albuquerque, N.M.: Tech Reps. 1986. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110522031055/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA269600" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110522031055/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA269600</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>J. Fitzgerald (1986). "Technical Report LA-10657-MS: Bistatic Phase Sounding in the Ionosphere above the Minor Scale Explosion" (PDF). Los Alamos National Labs. <a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/lib-www/la-pubs/00307898.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/lib-www/la-pubs/00307898.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Minor Scale Event Test Execution Report, p. 135 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Test Blast: Official Portrait". <a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/image/tredici/33.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/image/tredici/33.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Willmore, PL (1949). "Seismic Experiments on the North German Explosions, 1946 to 1947". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 242 (843). JSTOR: 123–151. Bibcode:1949RSPTA.242..123W. doi:10.1098/rsta.1949.0007. JSTOR 91443. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1949.0007" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1949.0007</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Minor Scale Event, Test Execution Report" (PDF). p. 137. <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA269600.pdf" target="_blank">https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA269600.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>