Mark 16 nuclear bomb

The Mark 16 nuclear bomb was a large American thermonuclear bomb (hydrogen bomb), based on the design of the Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear device ever test fired. The Mark 16 is more properly designated TX-16/EC-16 as it only existed in Experimental/Emergency Capability (EC) versions. The TX-16 was the only deployed thermonuclear bomb which used a cryogenic liquid deuterium fusion fuel, the same fuel used in the Ivy Mike test device, and required an elaborate cryogenic system for use. A small number of EC-16s were produced to provide a stop-gap thermonuclear weapon capability without being tested. The TX-16 was scheduled to be tested as the Castle Yankee "Jughead" device until the overwhelming success of the Castle Bravo "Shrimp" test device, which showed that "dry" lithium deuteride fusion fuel could be very productively used for thermonuclear weapons, rendered it obsolete.

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