Some 31 Vixen A trials were conducted in the Wewak area at Maralinga between 1959 and 1961 that investigated the effects of an accidental fire on a nuclear weapon, and involved a total of about of natural and depleted uranium, 0.98 kg of plutonium of which 0.58 kg was dispersed, of polonium-210 and of actinium-227. Balloons were used to carry instruments aloft and take samples. There were three types of Vixen A experiments: combustion in a petrol fire; combustion in an electric furnace; and dispersion by detonation of a nuclear bomb's high explosive components. The petrol fire tests were conducted using a chimney tall on a base, and generated temperatures ranging from for uranium and beryllium and for plutonium. The electric furnace tests were only used for tests with uranium, and involved temperatures ranging from .