Operation Castle was the codename of Nuclear weapons test series that was conducted by the United States of America after the Operation Crossroads. Operation Castle started with the detonation of a new Nuclear device called Castle Bravo.

Castle Bravo was first of the high yield dry fuel thermonuclear bombs and it was tested in Bikini Atoll’s nuclear test of 1954 as part of Operation Castle. It was way beyond expectation and caused a vast spread of radioactive matter. Castle Bravo detonation caused a nuclear fallout that spread its radioactive contaminants all the way to countries like Japan, Australia, India and Sri Lanka; it also spread minor nuclear materials to the United States, Europe and multiple other countries. Castle Bravo was detonated on 1st March 1954 on the Pacific Proving Grounds.

Castle Bravo was planned as a secret nuclear bomb test but after the miscalculations and its nuclear fallout, It became the world’s first nuclear disaster. The main problem with Castle Bravo that caused this disaster was the miscalculation, as the researchers and scientists calculated the explosive yield of nuclear detonation to be between 4 or 8 Megaton but the Castle Bravo exceeded this and produced a yield of 15 Megaton.

The size of the explosion caused by Castle Bravo was beyond the imaginations and expectations of the U.S. Military and scientists, the explosion destroyed all of the instruments and devices which were placed to check and analyze Castle Bravo’s effectiveness.

The Incident of Castle Bravo prompted international calls to ban the atmospheric level testing of such dry lithium deuteride fueled thermonuclear bombs.

List of Tests in Operation Castle:

• Castle Bravo was detonated on Nam Island, Bikini Atoll and name of device was Shrimp. Castle Bravo was tested on date of 1st March 1954.

• Castle Union was detonated on Iroij, Bikini Atoll name of device was Alarm Clock. Castle Union was tested on date of 11th March 1954.

• Castle Yankee was detonated on Iroij, Bikini Atoll name of devices were Jughead and Runt 2. Castle Yankee was tested on date of 22nd March 1954.

• Castle Echo was detonated on Eberiru, Enewetak Atoll name of device was Ramrod. Castle Echo was tested on date of 29th March 1954.

• Castle Nectar was detonated on Iroij, Bikini Atoll name of device was Zombie. Castle Nectar was tested on date of 5th April 1954.

• Castle Romeo was detonated on Iroij, Bikini Atoll name of device was Runt. Castle Romeo was tested on date of 15th April 1954.

• Castle Koon was detonated on Eneman, Bikini Atoll name of device was Morgenstern. Castle Koon was tested on date of 22nd April 1954.