Editing Project Plowshare (section)

{{short description|U.S. program examining the peaceful applications of nuclear explosives (1961–77)}}
{{About|proposed peaceful uses of nuclear weapons|the serialized Philip K. Dick novel with the same name|The Zap Gun}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}}
[[Image:Sedan Plowshare Crater.jpg|thumb|The 1962 "[[Sedan (nuclear test)|Sedan]]" plowshares shot displaced 12 million tons of earth and created a crater {{convert|320|ft|m}} deep and {{convert|1280|ft|m}} wide.]]

'''Project Plowshare''' was the overall United States program for the development of techniques to use [[nuclear explosive]]s for peaceful construction purposes. The program was organized in June 1957 as part of the worldwide [[Atoms for Peace]] efforts. As part of the program, 35<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weinersmith |first=Zach |title=10 Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or ruin everything |year= 2017 |isbn=978-0399563829 |pages=154 |language=English}}</ref> nuclear warheads were detonated in 27 separate tests. A similar program was carried out in the [[Soviet Union]] under the name [[Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy]], although the Soviet program consisted of 124 tests.

Successful demonstrations of non-combat uses for nuclear explosives include [[rock blasting]], stimulation of [[tight gas]], [[chemical element]] manufacture,{{efn|Test shot Anacostia resulted in [[isotopes of curium|Curium-250]] being discovered.}} unlocking some of the mysteries of the [[R-process]] of [[stellar nucleosynthesis]] and probing the composition of the [[Earth's crust|Earth's deep crust]], creating [[reflection seismology]] [[vibroseis]] data which has helped geologists and follow-on mining company [[prospecting]].<ref name="Executive Summary"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium4/ms/becker.ps.gz |title=Archived copy |website=www.ociw.edu |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210141005/http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium4/ms/becker.ps.gz |archive-date=10 February 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium4/proceedings.html|title=Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series |date=February 10, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210141005/http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium4/proceedings.html |archive-date=February 10, 2006 }}</ref>

The project's uncharacteristically large and atmospherically vented [[Sedan (nuclear test)|Sedan nuclear test]] also led geologists to determine that [[Barringer crater]] was formed as a result of a [[impact event|meteor impact]] and not from a [[volcanic eruption]], as had earlier been assumed. This became the first crater on Earth definitely proven to be from an impact event.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://keyah.asu.edu/lessons/MeteorCrater/KM13.html|title=Keyah Math – Numerical Solutions for Culturally Diverse Geology|website=keyah.asu.edu}}</ref>

Negative impacts from Project Plowshare's tests generated significant public opposition, which eventually led to the program's termination in 1977.<ref name =bks2011 /> These consequences included [[tritiated water]] (projected to increase by CER Geonuclear Corporation to a level of 2% of the then-maximum level for drinking water)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jacobsen|first1=Sally|title=Turning up the Gas: AEC Prepares Another Nuclear Gas Stimulation Shot|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|date=May 1972|volume=28|issue=5|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwsAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37|issn=0096-3402|doi=10.1080/00963402.1972.11457935|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and the deposition of [[fallout]] from radioactive material being injected into the atmosphere before [[Underground nuclear weapons testing|underground testing]] was [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty|mandated by treaty]].