The first thermonuclear explosion ever to occur on the earth, Ivy Mike,was detonated by the US Military on Eniwetok atoll in the Marshall Islands on 1st November 1952. The device itself weighed 60 tons and was housed in a six-storey structure containing the massive cooling apparatus needed to produce a temperature of minus 250 degrees Centigrade whereby the deuterium used to fuel the bomb could be liquified.
Sixteen months later, the explosion of Castle Bravo on Bikini atoll marked the beginning of a second series of thermonuclear tests staged with the express purpose of creating a much smaller "deliverable" thermonuclear weapon in the megaton range.
"Promethean Hubris" offers an account of the events surrounding these tests, and describes the human and environmental consequences of such tests from the perspective of the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands. Special attention is given to the effects of Castle Bravo, the first of six thermonuclear tests that were conducted as part of Operation Castle between 1st March and 22nd April 1954.
Voices J. Robert Oppenheimer: Archival recording Holly Barker: Interview with Mick McCormick, February 2012 (Radio4All) Tony de Brum: "Atomic Testing in the Marshall Islands" (Youtube) Steve Osborn: Interview with Dori Smith, March 2004 (Radio4All) Martini Gotje: Interview with Shirin Brown, July 2010 (Internet Archive) vincentd (Commentary)
Music A. Coe, "Now I am Become Death" (Jamendo) Alexander Sitnikov, "Downfall" (Internet Archive, MixGalaxy Collection) Steve Kahn and Rob Mounsey, "Mahana" Dead Can Dance, "Black Sun" Doc and Lena Selyanina, "Steppe" (Internet Archive, Netlabels Collection) Dead Can Dance, "As the Bell Rings the Maypole Spins" Archie Roach, "There is a Garden"
Poetry Steve Osborn: "The Day of the Two Sunrises"
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