Operation Plowshare

Not to be confused with the anti-nuclear Plowshares Movement.

The 1962 "Sedan" plowshares shot displaced 12 million tons of earth and created a crater 320 feet (100 m) deep and 1,280 feet (390 m) wide

Project Plowshare was the overall United States term for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. The phrase was coined in 1961, taken from Isaiah 2:3–5 ("And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more"). It was the US portion of what are called Peaceful Nuclear Explosions (PNE). Despite successfully demonstrating non-combat uses for nuclear explosives, (i.e., for rock blasting and stimulation of tight gas), negative impacts from Project Plowshare’s 27 nuclear projects led to the program's termination in 1977, due in large part to public opposition. These consequences included tritium-contaminated water and the deposition of fallout from radioactive material being injected into the atmosphere, which led to an increase in environmental levels of radioactivity across the United States.

Rationale

By exploiting the peaceful uses of the "friendly atom" — in medical applications, earth removal, and later in nuclear power plants — the nuclear industry and government sought to allay public fears about nuclear technology and promote the acceptance of nuclear weapons. At the peak of the Atomic Age, the United States Federal government initiated Project Plowshare, involving "peaceful nuclear explosions". The United States Atomic Energy Commission chairman announced that the Plowshares project was intended to "highlight the peaceful applications of nuclear explosive devices and thereby create a climate of world opinion that is more favorable to weapons development and tests".

Proposals

Proposed uses for nuclear explosives under Project Plowshare included widening the Panama Canal, constructing a new sea-level waterway through Nicaragua nicknamed the Pan-Atomic Canal, cutting paths through mountainous areas for highways, and connecting inland river systems. Other proposals involved blasting underground caverns for water, natural gas, and petroleum storage. Serious consideration was also given to using these explosives for various mining operations. One proposal suggested using nuclear blasts to connect underground aquifers in Arizona. Another plan involved surface blasting on the western slope of California's Sacramento Valley for a water transport project.

Project Carryall, proposed in 1963 by the Atomic Energy Commission, the California Division of Highways (now Caltrans), and the Santa Fe Railway, would have used 22 nuclear explosions to excavate a massive roadcut through the Bristol Mountains in the Mojave Desert, to accommodate construction of Interstate 40 and a new rail line. At the end of the program, a major objective was to develop nuclear explosives, and blast techniques, for stimulating the flow of natural gas in "tight" underground reservoir formations. In the 1960s, a proposal was suggested for a modified in situ shale oil extraction process which involved creation of a rubble chimney (a zone in the oil shale formation created by breaking the rock into fragments) using a nuclear explosive. However, this approach was abandoned for a number of technical reasons.

Plowshare testing

One of the Chariot schemes involved chaining five thermonuclear devices to create the artificial harbor.

One of the first plowshare nuclear blast cratering proposals that came close to being carried out was Project Chariot, which would have used several hydrogen bombs to create an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson, Alaska. It was never carried out due to concerns for the native populations and the fact that there was little potential use for the harbor to justify its risk and expense. A number of proof-of-concept cratering blasts were conducted; including the Buggy shot of 5 1-Kt-devices for a channel/trench in Area 21 and the largest being 104 kiloton (435 terajoule) on July 6, 1962 at the north end of Yucca Flats, within the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Test Site (NTS) in southern Nevada. The shot, "Sedan", displaced more than 12 million short tons (11 teragrams) of soil and resulted in a radioactive cloud that rose to an altitude of 12,000 ft (3.7 km). The radioactive dust plume headed northeast and then east towards the Mississippi River.

The first PNE blast was Project Gnome, conducted on December 10, 1961 in a salt bed 24 mi (39 km) southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The explosion released 3.1 kilotons (13 TJ) of energy yield at a depth of 361 meters (1,184 ft) which resulted in the formation of a 170 ft (52 m) diameter, 80 ft (24 m) high cavity. The test had many objectives. The most public of these involved the generation of steam which could then be used to generate electricity. Another objective was the production of useful radioisotopes and their recovery. Another experiment involved neutron time-of-flight physics. A fourth experiment involved geophysical studies based upon the timed seismic source. Only the last objective was considered a complete success. The blast unintentionally vented radioactive steam while the press watched. The partly developed Project Coach detonation experiment that was to follow adjacent to the Gnome test was then canceled.

Over the next 11 years 26 more nuclear explosion tests were conducted under the U.S. PNE program. Funding quietly ended in 1977. Costs for the program have been estimated at more than (US) $770 million.

Natural gas stimulation experiment

The final PNE blast took place on 17 May 1973, under Fawn Creek, 76.4 km north of Grand Junction, Colorado. Three 30 kiloton detonations took place simultaneously at depths of 1,758, 1,875, and 2,015 meters. It was the third nuclear explosion experiment intended to stimulate the flow of natural gas from "tight" formation gas fields. Industrial participants included the El Paso Natural Gas Company for the Gasbuggy test; Austral Oil Company; CER Geonuclear Corporation for the Rulison test; and CER Geonuclear Corporation for the Rio Blanco test. If it was successful, plans called for the use of hundreds of specialized nuclear explosives in the western Rockies gas fields. The previous two tests had indicated that the produced natural gas would be too radioactive for safe use. After the Rio Blanco test it was found that the three blast cavities had not connected as hoped, and the resulting gas still contained unacceptable levels of radionuclides.

By 1974, approximately $82 million had been invested in the nuclear gas stimulation technology program. It was estimated that even after 25 years of gas production of all the natural gas deemed recoverable, that only 15 to 40 percent of the investment could be recovered.

Also, the concept that stove burners in California might soon emit trace amounts of blast radionuclides into family homes did not sit well with the general public. The contaminated well gas was never channeled into commercial supply lines.

The radioactive blast debris from 839 U.S. underground nuclear test explosions remains buried in-place and has been judged impractical to remove by the DOE's Nevada Site Office.

The situation remained so for the next three decades, but a resurgence in Colorado Western slope natural gas drilling has brought resource development closer and closer to the original underground detonations. By mid-2009, 84 drilling permits had been issued within a 3-mile radius, with 11 permits within one mile of the site.

Nuclear tests

The U.S. conducted 27 PNE shots in conjunction with other, weapons-related, test series.

Plowshare nuclear tests

Test name	Date	Location	Yield	Test series
Gnome	10 December 1961	Carlsbad, New Mexico	3 kilotons	Nougat
Sedan	6 July 1962	Nevada Test Site	104 kilotons	Storax
Anacostia	27 November 1962	Nevada Test Site	5.2 kilotons	Dominic I and II
Kaweah	21 February 1963	Nevada Test Site	3 kilotons	Dominic I and II
Tornillo	11 October 1963	Nevada Test Site	0.38 kilotons	Niblick
Klickitat	20 February 1964	Nevada Test Site	70 kilotons	Niblick
Ace	11 June 1964	Nevada Test Site	3 kilotons	Niblick
Dub	30 June 1964	Nevada Test Site	11.7 kilotons	Niblick
Par	9 October 1964	Nevada Test Site	38 kilotons	Whetstone
Handcar	5 November 1964	Nevada Test Site	12 kilotons	Whetstone
Sulky	5 November 1964	Nevada Test Site	0.9 kilotons	Whetstone
Palanquin	14 April 1965	Nevada Test Site	4.3 kilotons	Whetstone
Templar	24 March 1966	Nevada Test Site	0.37 kilotons	Flintlock
Vulcan	25 June 1966	Nevada Test Site	25 kilotons	Flintlock
Saxon	11 July 1966	Nevada Test Site	1.2 kilotons	Latchkey
Simms	6 November 1966	Nevada Test Site	2.3 kilotons	Latchkey
Switch	22 June 1967	Nevada Test Site	3.1 kilotons	Latchkey
Marvel	21 September 1967	Nevada Test Site	2.2 kilotons	Crosstie
Gasbuggy	10 December 1967	Farmington, New Mexico	29 kilotons	Crosstie
Cabriolet	26 January 1968	Nevada Test Site	2.3 kilotons	Crosstie
Buggy	12 March 1968	Nevada Test Site	5 at 1.1 kilotons each	Crosstie
Stoddard	17 September 1968	Nevada Test Site	31 kilotons	Bowline
Schooner	8 December 1968	Nevada Test Site	30 kilotons	Bowline
Rulison	10 September 1969	Grand Valley, Colorado	43 kilotons	Mandrel
Flask	26 May 1970	Nevada Test Site	105 kilotons	Mandrel
Miniata	8 July 1971	Nevada Test Site	83 kilotons	Grommet
Rio Blanco	17 May 1973	Rifle, Colorado	3 at 33 kilotons each	Toggle

Non-nuclear tests

In addition to the nuclear tests, Plowshare executed a number of non-nuclear test projects in an attempt to learn more about how the nuclear explosives could best be used. Several of these projects lead to practical utility as well as to furthering knowledge about large explosives. These projects included:

Plowshare non-nuclear projects

Project name	Dates	Location	Yield	Notes
Pre-Gnome	10 February 1959	Gnome site New Mexico	3 events, 365 tons each	Scaling seismic events for the Gnome shot.
Toboggan	1 November 1959	NTS Area 6, centered closely around 36.96513°N 116.0091°W / 36.96513; -116.0091	122 small detonations	Singles, multiples, and lines in the dry lake bed of Yucca Flats.
Stagecoach	1 March 1960	NTS Area 10, 37.16607°N 116.03417°W / 37.16607; -116.03417 37.16607°N 116.03563°W / 37.16607; -116.03563 37.1638°N 116.03709°W / 37.1638; -116.03709	3 shots, 20 tons each	Preparatory to Scooter.
Buckboard	1 August 1960	NTS Area 18, centering around 37.095°N 116.353°W / 37.095; -116.353	0.5 to 20 tons each	At least 13 shots exploring hard rock excavation on Buckboard Mesa
Pinot	2 August 1960	near Rifle, CO 39.53729°N 107.95508°W / 39.53729; -107.95508	very small	An experiment to inject radioxenon and study percolation through shale layers.
Scooter	1 October 1960	NTS Area 10, 37.17143°N 116.0378°W / 37.17143; -116.0378	500 tons	An earth moving test similar to, and close to, Sedan.
Pre-Buggy	1 June 1961	NTS Area 5, 36.8324°N 115.9706°W / 36.8324; -115.9706	4 sets of 256 pounds (116 kg)	Study of line forming excavation.
Rowboat	1 June 1961	NTS Area 10, 37.15675°N 116.04321°W / 37.15675; -116.04321	4 sets of 256 lbs each	Studying row charges.
Pre-Schooner I	1 February 1964	NTS Area 18, between 37.07475°N 116.34269°W / 37.07475; -116.34269 and 37.10696°N 116.35063°W / 37.10696; -116.35063	20 tons each	4 shots preliminary to the Schooner nuclear test.
Dugout	24 June 1964	NTS Area 18, 37.09374°N 116.34509°W / 37.09374; -116.34509	100 tons
Pre-Schooner II	30 September 1965	Bruneau Plateau, ID 42.40082°N 115.57367°W / 42.40082; -115.57367	85.5 tons	Large scale cratering of hard rock.
Pre-Gondola	20 June 1966 to 1 June 1969	Ft Peck, Montana centered around 47.9306°N 106.6427°W / 47.9306; -106.6427	0.5 to 210 tons each	26 explosions in a shoreline excavation test at the Ft. Peck Reservoir.
Tugboat	6 November 1969 to 8 December 1970	Kawaihae, HI, centered on 20.0276°N 155.8286°W / 20.0276; -155.8286	18 events, 1 to 20 tons each	Excavation of a small boat harbor. harbor is in use today.
Trinidad	1 June 1971 to 19 November 1971	near Trinidad, CO, centered close around 37.1261°N 104.6039°W / 37.1261; -104.6039	15 events 5 to 44 tons each	Clearing a railroad cut near Trinidad, Co. Cut was used in railroad grade.
Old Reliable	1 August 1971	Old Reliable Mine, AZ 32.75167°N 110.48917°W / 32.75167; -110.48917	?	Study in situ fracturing and leaching of copper ore.

Proposed nuclear projects

A number of projects were proposed and some planning accomplished, but were not followed through on. A list of these is given here:

Plowshare uncompleted projects

Project name	Proposed Date	Location	Notes
Tombigbee/Tennessee River	1 January 1959	Tishomingo County, MS near 34.83082°N 88.26358°W / 34.83082; -88.26358	Excavation of three miles of a divide cut connecting the Tennessee and Tombigee rivers in NE Mississippi.
Oilsands	1 January 1959	Alberta, Canada near 57.02°N 111.65°W / 57.02; -111.65	Oil recovery from Athabascan tar sands; many sites in Alberta, Canada would have supported experiments.
Ditchdigger	1 January 1961	NTS	Clean thermonuclear explosives for excavation.
Chariot	1 January 1962	AK near 68.10028°N 165.76528°W / 68.10028; -165.76528	Five nuclear bombs to excavate a harbor in Alaska's North Slope.
Coach	1 January 1963	Carlsbad, NM near 32.26°N 103.87°W / 32.26; -103.87	Production of neutron-rich isotopes of trans-plutonian elements.
Carryall	1 November 1963	Bristol Mountain Pass, CA near 34.3307°N 115.86307°W / 34.3307; -115.86307	Plan to use 22 bombs to blast a path over the Bristol Mountains for the ATSF railroad and Caltrans.
Phaeton	1 January 1964	NTS	Cratering scaling experiment.
Dogsled	1 January 1964	Glade Park, CO near 39.05149°N 109.02627°W / 39.05149; -109.02627	Cratering characteristics in dry sandstone on the Colorado Plateau.
Pan-Atomic Canal	1 January 1965	Nicaragua near 11.32265°N 84.83235°W / 11.32265; -84.83235	One of several possibilities for a new sea-level Atlantic/Pacific canal.
Flivver	1 March 1966	NTS}	Basic cratering science and engineering.
Dragon Trail	1 December 1966	Rifle, CO near 39.90038°N 109.01679°W / 39.90038; -109.01679	A gas stimulation plan similar to Rulison but in the Mancos B formation of Colorado, sponsored by Conoco.
Thunderbird	1 January 1967	35 miles (56 km) east of Buffalo, WY near 44.34488°N 105.99101°W / 44.34488; -105.99101	Coal gasification 35 miles east of Buffalo, WY
Galley	1 January 1967	undetermined	Row charges under hard rock under varying terrain conditions.
Ketch	1 August 1967	Clinton County, PA near 41.19136°N 77.73923°W / 41.19136; -77.73923	Creation of an underground storage facility for natural gas, sponsored by Columbia Gas System Corp.
Bronco	1 August 1967	near Rifle CO	Breaking up oil shale deposits for in situ retorting; essentially the same project as Rulison.
Sloop	1 October 1967	Safford, AZ near 32.86123°N 109.69242°W / 32.86123; -109.69242	A plan for breaking up low yield copper ore bodies making them ready for leaching in situ, from Kennecott Copper.
Acquarius	1 January 1968	Bowie County, AZ near 32.10748°N 109.14811°W / 32.10748; -109.14811	Water resource management, dam construction, subsurface water storage, purification, acquifer modification, at Clear Creek or San Simon, AZ.
Wagon Wheel	1 January 1968	19 miles (31 km) south of Pinedale, WY near 42.59077°N 109.85455°W / 42.59077; -109.85455	Another natural gas stimulation project, 19 mi S of Pinedale, WY.
Oxcart	1 January 1969	NTS	Investigate excavation efficiency as a function of yield and depth for Project Chariot.
Utah	1 January 1969	Ouray, UT near 40.01079°N 109.60648°W / 40.01079; -109.60648	Plan for oil shale maturation experiment.
Sturtevant	1 January 1969	NTS	Cratering experiment tailored to the Pan-Atomic canal.
Australian Harbor	1 January 1969	Tasmania, Australia near 40.44477°S 144.77818°E / -40.44477; 144.77818	A joint US/Australian plan for creating a new harbor at Cape Keraudren on the Australian NW coast.
Yawl	1 January 1969	NTS	Cratering experiment tailored to the Pan-Atomic canal.
Wasp	1 July 1969	Bondurant, WY, 24 miles (39 km) northwest of Pinedale, WY near 43.15594°N 110.42915°W / 43.15594; -110.42915	Another natural gas stimulation project.
Geothermal Power	1 January 1971	Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, NM near 35.89488°N 106.85616°W / 35.89488; -106.85616	Both dry and wet geothermal energy stimulation.

Negative impacts and opposition

Operation Plowshare "started with great expectations and high hopes". Planners believed that the projects could be completed safely, but there was less confidence that they could be completed more economically than conventional methods. Moreover, there was insufficient public and Congressional support for the projects. Projects Chariot and Coach were two examples where technical problems and environmental concerns prompted further feasibility studies which took several years, and each project was eventually canceled. Citizen groups voiced concerns and opposition to some of the Plowshare tests. There were concerns that the blast effects from the Schooner explosion could dry up active wells or trigger an earthquake. There was opposition to both Rulison and Rio Blanco tests because of possible radioactive gas flaring operations and other environmental hazards. In a 1973 article, Time used the term "Project Dubious" to describe Operation Plowshare. There were many negative impacts from Project Plowshare’s 27 nuclear explosions:

Project Gnome vented radioactive steam over the very press gallery that was called to confirm its safety. The next blast, a 104-kiloton detonation at Yucca Flat, Nevada, displaced 12 million tons of soil and resulted in a radioactive dust cloud that rose 12,000 feet and plumed toward the Mississippi River. Other consequences – blighted land, relocated communities, tritium-contaminated water, radioactivity, and fallout from debris being hurled high into the atmosphere – were ignored and downplayed until the program was terminated in 1977, due in large part to public opposition.

Project Plowshare shows how something intended to improve national security can unwittingly do the opposite if it fails to fully consider the social, political, and environmental consequences. It also “underscores that public resentment and opposition can stop projects in their tracks”.

See also

• Plowshares Movement
• Atoms for Peace
• Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy
• Atomic age
• Project Oilsand, a 1958 proposal to exploit the Athabasca Oil Sands in Canada via the underground detonation of nuclear bombs.

External links

• Bolt, Bruce A (1976). "Nuclear Explosions and Earthquakes: The Parted Veil". WH Freeman & Co. ISBN 0-7167-0276-2. .
• Hansen, Chuck (1988). "US Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History". Aerofax. ISBN 0-517-56740-7. .
• Hansen, Chuck. "The Swords of Armageddon: US Nuclear Weapons Development Since 1945" (CD-ROM). US cold war. http://www.uscoldwar.com/. .
• Kirsch, Scott (2005). "Proving Grounds: Project Plowshare and the Unrealized Dream of Nuclear Earthmoving". Rutgers University Press. .
• Miller, Richard L (1999). "Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing". Two Sixty Press. ISBN 1-881043-05-3. .
• Schwartz, Stephen I, ed (1998). "Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940". Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0-8157-7773-6. http://www.brookings.edu/. .
• "United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992" (PDF). US: Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office. December 2000. DOE/NV-209-REV15. http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf. 
• "Plowshare Program" (PDF). OSTI. http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/osti.gov/www.osti.gov/osti/opennet/plowshar.pdf. .
• "Radioactive I-131 from Fallout". National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/i131. .
• "Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from Iodine-131 in Fallout Following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests". National Cancer Institute. http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/exesumfig1.html. "Figure 1 – Per capita thyroid doses resulting from all exposure routes from all test" .
• "Focused Evaluation of Selected Remedial Alternatives for the Underground Test Area" (PDF). Environmental Restoration Division, Operations Office, Department of Energy. April 1997. DOE/NV-465. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/469154-Il8yqP/webviewable/469154.pdf. .
• "NV". DOE. http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/plowshare.pdf. "Declassification of the yields of 11 nuclear tests conducted as part of the plowshare... program" .
• "Atomic traveler" (PDF). http://www.atomictraveler.com/PlowshareProgram.pdf.  milestones, including proposed tests and projects conducted.
• The short film Plowshare (Part I) (ca. 1961) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film Plowshare (Part II) (ca. 1961) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film New Mexico, 1961/11/30 (1961) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film Radiation Safety in Nuclear Energy Explorations (Part I) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film Radiation Safety in Nuclear Energy Explorations (Part II) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]