Editing Project Plowshare (section)

== Plowshare testing ==
The first [[Peaceful Nuclear Explosion]] (PNE) blast was [[Project Gnome]], conducted on December 10, 1961, in a salt bed {{cvt|24|mi|km}} southeast of [[Carlsbad, New Mexico|Carlsbad]], in southeast [[New Mexico]].  The explosion released 3.1&nbsp;kilotons (13&nbsp;TJ) of energy yield at a depth of {{cvt|361|m|ft|order=flip}} which resulted in the formation of a {{cvt|170|ft|m|adj=on}} diameter, {{cvt|80|ft|m|adj=on}} high cavity. The test had many objectives, the most public of which involved the generation of [[steam]] which could then be used to generate electricity.  Another objective was the production of useful [[radioisotope]]s and their recovery.  Yet another experiment involved [[neutron]] [[time-of-flight]] [[Particle physics|physics]], and 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 [[Project Gnome|Gnome test]] was then canceled.

A number of [[proof of concept|proof-of-concept]] cratering blasts were conducted; including the Buggy shot of five 1-kiloton devices for a channel/trench in Area 30 and the largest being 104 [[kiloton]] (435 [[terajoule]]) on July 6, 1962, at the north end of [[Yucca Flats]], within the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]'s [[Nevada Test Site]] (NTS) in southern Nevada. The shot, "[[Sedan (nuclear test)|Sedan]]", displaced more than {{convert|12|e6ST|e6kg|abbr=off}} of soil and resulted in a radioactive cloud that rose to an altitude of {{cvt|12000|ft|km}}.  The [[radioactive dust]] plume headed northeast and then east towards the [[Mississippi River]].<ref name=bks2011/>

Over the next 11 years, 26 more nuclear explosion tests were conducted under the United States PNE program. The radioactive blast debris from 839 U.S. underground nuclear test explosions remain buried in-place and have been judged impractical to remove by the DOE's Nevada Site Office. Funding quietly ended in 1997, and costs for the program have been estimated at more than (US) $770 million.<ref name="bks2011" />

===Natural gas stimulation experiment===
Three nuclear explosion experiments were intended to stimulate the flow of [[natural gas]] from "tight" formation gas fields. Industrial participants included [[El Paso Natural Gas]] Company for the [[Gasbuggy]] test near [[Farmington, New Mexico]]; CER Geonuclear Corporation and [[Austral Oil Company]] for the [[Rulison]] test;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=austral_oil_co_inc|title = Austral Oil, Co., Inc. |publisher=Harvard Business School |access-date = November 23, 2014}}</ref> and CER Geonuclear Corporation for the [[Project Rio Blanco|Rio Blanco]] test.

The final PNE blast took place on May 17, 1973, under Fawn Creek, {{cvt|76.4|km|mi|order=flip}} north of [[Grand Junction, Colorado]].  Three 30-kiloton detonations took place simultaneously at depths of {{cvt|1758|, |1875|and|2015|m|ft|order=flip}}.  If it had been successful, plans called for the use of hundreds of specialized nuclear explosives in the [[Rocky Mountains|western Rockies]] gas fields.  The previous two tests had indicated that the produced natural gas would be too [[radioactivity|radioactive]] for safe use; the Rio Blanco test found that the three blast cavities had not connected as hoped, and the resulting gas still contained unacceptable levels of [[radionuclides]].<ref name = "Dubious">{{cite news |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,903965,00.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081214071547/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,903965,00.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = December 14, 2008 |title=Environment: Project Dubious |date=April 9, 1973 |work= Time magazine |access-date= August 17, 2016}}</ref>

By 1974, approximately $82 million had been invested in the nuclear gas stimulation technology program. It was estimated that even after 25 years of production of all the natural gas deemed recoverable, only 15 to 40% of the investment would be recouped.  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 gas was never channeled into commercial supply lines.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

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 {{convert|3|mi|km|adj=on}} radius, with 11 permits within {{cvt|1|mi|km|spell=in}} mile of the site.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mark |last= Jaffe |url= http://www.denverpost.com/2009/07/01/colorado-drilling-rigs-closing-in-on-60s-nuke-site/ |title = Colorado drilling rigs closing in on '60s nuke site |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=July 2, 2009 |access-date = January 30, 2010}}</ref>