High explosive nuclear effects testing

High explosive nuclear effects testing comprises large scale field tests using conventional high explosives as alternatives to atmospheric nuclear testing.

However, alternatives to atmospheric nuclear testing were required to continue the study of nuclear weapons effects.

[1] These would allow obtaining data related to air-blast, ground-shock, structure-response data, bio-medical effects, and other various phenomena.

Large scale field tests using conventional high explosives were devised to this end.

The following is a list of such events with yields of more than 1000 pounds.

Minor Scale test at the White Sands Missile Range utilized 4880 tons of ANFO to simulate an equivalent airblast of a tactical nuclear weapon.