Project Gasbuggy (nonfiction)

Scientists lower a 13-foot by 18-inches diameter nuclear warhead into a well in New Mexico. The experimental 29-kiloton Project Gasbuggy device will be detonated at a depth of 4,240 feet. Los Alamos Lab photo.

Project Gasbuggy was an underground nuclear detonation carried out by the United States Atomic Energy Commission on December 10, 1967 in rural northern New Mexico.

Its purpose was to determine if nuclear explosions could be useful in fracturing rock formations for natural gas extraction.

The 4,042-foot-deep detonation created a molten glass-lined cavern about 160 feet in diameter and 333 feet tall. It collapsed within seconds. Subsequent measurements indicated fractures extended more than 200 feet in all directions – and significantly increased natural gas production.

No radiation was released at the surface at the time of the blast. The molten rock in the cavity encapsulated most of the radionuclides from the detonation.

Project Gasbuggy stimulated gas production in greater quantities than in nearby conventional gas wells, but the natural gas was radioactive. Test results also indicated that the gas had a significantly lower heat value.

It was part of Operation Plowshare, a program designed to find peaceful uses for nuclear explosions.

Following the Project Gasbuggy test, two subsequent nuclear explosion fracturing experiments were conducted in western Colorado in an effort to refine the technique. They were Project Rulison in 1969 and Project Rio Blanco in 1973. In both cases the gas radioactivity was still seen as too high.

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links:

• Project Gasbuggy @ Wikipedia
• Project Gasbuggy tests Nuclear Fracking @ American Oil and Gas Historical Association
• The Resourceful Atom: Project Gasbuggy @ YouTube
• Gasbuggy, New Mexico, Site Fact Sheet