Editing Johnston Atoll (section)

====Failures====
[[File:Bluegill Prime Thor Missile Explodes.JPG|thumb|Nuclear-armed Thor missile explodes and burns on the launch pad at Johnston Island during the failed "Bluegill Prime" nuclear test, July 25, 1962]]

The "Fishbowl" series included four failures, all deliberately disrupted by range safety officers when the missiles' systems failed during launch and were aborted. The second launch of the Fishbowl series, "[[Operation Fishbowl#Bluegill|Bluegill]]", carried an active warhead. Bluegill was "lost" by a defective range safety tracking radar and had to be destroyed 10 minutes after liftoff, even though it probably ascended successfully. The subsequent nuclear weapon launch failures from Johnston Atoll caused severe contamination to the island and surrounding areas with [[Weapons-grade nuclear material|weapons-grade]] [[plutonium]] and [[americium]] that remains an issue to this day.

The failure of the "Bluegill" launch created in effect a [[dirty bomb]] but did not release the nuclear warhead's plutonium debris onto Johnston Atoll as the missile fell into the ocean south of the island and was not recovered. However, the "Starfish", "Bluegill Prime", and "Bluegill Double Prime" test launch failures in 1962 scattered radioactive debris over Johnston Island contaminating it, the lagoon, and Sand Island with plutonium for decades.<ref name="Nautilus">{{cite web|url=http://nautilus.org/apsnet/cleaning-up-johnston-atoll/|title="Cleaning up Johnston Atoll", APSNet Special Reports, November 25, 2005|work=Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability|date=November 25, 2005|access-date=September 17, 2014|archive-date=July 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719075527/http://nautilus.org/apsnet/cleaning-up-johnston-atoll/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Birds"/>

[[File:Contaminated Johnston Island Launch Emplacement 1, Bluegill Prime, Thor failure, July 25, 1962..jpg|thumb|Johnston Island Launch Emplacement One (LE1) after a Thor missile launch failure and explosion contaminated the island with plutonium during the Operation "Bluegill Prime" nuclear test, July 1962]]

"[[Operation Fishbowl#Starfish|Starfish]]", a high altitude Thor launched nuclear test scheduled for June 20, 1962, was the first to contaminate the atoll. The rocket with the 1.45-megaton Starfish device (W49 warhead and the [[W76|MK-4]] [[Atmospheric entry|re-entry vehicle]]) on its nose was launched that evening, but the Thor missile engine cut out only 59 seconds after launch. The range safety officer sent a destruct signal 65 seconds after launch, and the missile was destroyed at approximately {{convert|10.6|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} altitude—the warhead high explosive detonated in a 1-point safe fashion, destroying the warhead without producing nuclear yield. Large pieces of the plutonium-contaminated missile, including fragments of the warhead, booster rocket, engine, re-entry vehicle, and missile parts, fell back on Johnston Island. More wreckage, along with plutonium contamination, was found on nearby Sand Island.

"[[Operation Fishbowl#Bluegill Prime|Bluegill Prime]]," the second attempt to launch the payload, which failed last time, was scheduled for 23:15 (local) on July 25, 1962. It, too, was a genuine disaster and caused the most severe plutonium contamination on the island. The Thor missile carried one pod, two re-entry vehicles, and the [[W50 (nuclear warhead)|W50]] nuclear warhead. The missile engine malfunctioned immediately after ignition, and the range safety officer fired the destruct system while the missile was still on the launch pad. The Johnston Island launch complex was demolished in the subsequent explosions and fire, which burned through the night. The launch emplacement and portions of the island were contaminated with radioactive plutonium spread by the blast, fire, and wind-blown smoke.

[[File:Dominic Bluegill Prime radiation cleanup.jpg|thumb|left|Inspection of Thor rocket engine remains on Johnston Island after failure of "Bluegill Prime" nuclear test attempt, July 1962]]

Afterward, the Johnston Island launch complex was heavily damaged and contaminated with plutonium. Missile launches and nuclear testing halted until the radioactive debris was dumped, soils were recovered, and the launch emplacement rebuilt. Before tests could resume, three months of repairs, decontamination, and rebuilding of the LE1 and the backup pad LE2 were necessary. To continue with the testing program, U.S. troops were sent in to do a rapid cleanup. The troops scrubbed down the revetments and launch pad, carted away debris, and removed the top layer of coral around the contaminated launch pad. The plutonium-contaminated rubbish was dumped in the lagoon, polluting the surrounding marine environment. Over 550 drums of contaminated material were dumped in the ocean off Johnston from 1964 to 1965. At the time of the Bluegill Prime disaster, a bulldozer and grader scraped the top fill around the launch pad. It was then dumped into the lagoon to make a ramp so the rest of the debris could be loaded onto the landing craft to be dumped into the ocean. An estimated 10 percent of the plutonium from the test device was in the fill used to make the ramp. Then, the ramp was covered and placed into a {{convert|25|acre|m2|abbr=on}} landfill on the island during 1962 dredging to extend the island. The lagoon was again dredged in 1963–1964 and used to expand Johnston Island from {{convert|220|to|625|acre|abbr=on}}, recontaminating additional portions of the island.

[[File:Thor missile at Johnston Island.jpg|thumb|upright|PGM-17 Thor missile at Johnston Island]]
On October 15, 1962, the "[[Operation Fishbowl#Bluegill Double Prime|Bluegill Double Prime]]" test also misfired. During the test, the rocket was destroyed at a height of 109,000 feet after it malfunctioned 90 seconds into the flight. U.S. Defense Department officials confirm that the rocket's destruction contributed to the radioactive pollution on the island.

In 1963, the U.S. Senate ratified the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty|Limited Test Ban Treaty]], which contained a provision known as "Safeguard C". Safeguard C was the basis for maintaining Johnston Atoll as a "ready to test" above-ground nuclear testing site should atmospheric nuclear testing ever be deemed necessary again. In 1993, Congress appropriated no funds for the Johnston Atoll "Safeguard C" mission, ending it.