Editing Project Plowshare (section)

===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>