Einsteinium was first identified in December 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and co-workers at the University of California , Berkeley in collaboration with the Argonne and Los Alamos National Laboratories , in the fallout from the '' Ivy Mike '' nuclear test . The test was carried out on November 1 , 1952 , at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and was the first successful test of a hydrogen bomb . Initial examination of the debris from the explosion had shown the production of a new isotope of plutonium , , which could only have formed by the absorption of six neutrons by a uranium-238 nucleus followed by two beta decays . At the time , the multiple neutron absorption was thought to be an extremely rare process , but the identification of indicated that still more neutrons could have been captured by the uranium nuclei , thereby producing new elements heavier than californium
Ivy Mike
Ivy Mike
Einsteinium