Project Gasbuggy
Project Gasbuggy was an underground nuclear detonation carried out by the United States Atomic Evergy Commission on December 10, 1967 in rural northern New Mexico. It was part of Operation Plowshare, a program designed to find peaceful uses for nuclear explosions.
Gasbuggy was carried out by the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and the El Paso Natural Gas Company, with funding from the Atomic Energy commission. Its purpose was to determine whether controlled nuclear explosions could be useful in loosening rock formations for the sake of natural gas extraction.[1] The site, which is now part of Carson National Forest, is approximately 25 miles southwest of Dulce, New Mexico and 50 miles east of Farmington, andwas chosen because natural gas deposits were known to be held in sandstone beneath Leandro Canyon.[2] A 29-kiloton device was placed at a depth of 4,227 feet underground[3] and detonated; a crowd had gathered to watch, which viewed the detonation from atop a nearby butte.[2]
The explosion was carried out according to plan, detonating successfully and creating an 80-feet-wide, 335-feet-deep crater at the site.[1] Wells were drilled and natural gas was extracted from the site; however, the gas proved to be too radioactive to be commercially exploitable.[1] Highly radioactive material in the area was removed, and the site is now level ground safe to approach at the surface, although drilling or digging in the area is prohibited. In 1978, a placard was placed at the site noting the location of ground zero.[3]
See Also
References
- ^ a b c Gasbuggy Nuclear Test Site. Center for Land Use Interpretation. Accessed April 11, 2011.
- ^ a b A Good Start for Gasbuggy. Time, December 22, 1967.
- ^ a b Project Gasbuggy, Atomictourist.com. Size and depth as per placard at the site.