PROJECT SHOAL

October 26, 1963

A nuclear bomb was detonated below this spot on October 26, 1963 at 10:00 AM, Pacific Standard Time

Detonation Yield:	12.5 Kilotons – equivalent to the energy released by the detonation of 12,500 tons of TNT high explosive or about 80% of the energy of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
Depth:	367.4 meters (1205 feet)
Medium:	Solid granite
Purpose:	The Shoal event was part of the VELA UNIFORM program. It was intended to produce a better understanding of the seismic (earth movement) detection of underground nuclear explosions. This seismically active region was chosen due in part to its unique seismic characteristics which were unavailable at the Nevada Test Site
Location:	Churchill County, Nevada (28 miles southeast of Fallon, Nevada, at Gote Flat in the northern portion of the Sand Springs Range). Geographic coordinates: 39° 12¢ 00.7² N / 118° 22¢ 49.0² W.
Sponsors:	The Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Program Agency (ARPA) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), predecessor of the Department of Energy (DOE)
Physical results remaining:	The explosion occurred in a tunnel carved into the solid granite of the Sand Springs Mountain Range. It produced a cylindrical shaped cavity, called a nuclear rubble chimney, which is approximately 166 feet in diameter and 446 feet in height. At the bottom of the cavity lies over 10,000 metric tons of porous, fractured radioactive rock slag. The hazardous waste materials produced by the nuclear bomb are similar in composition to the High-Level radioactive wastes (high-level plus transuranic waste) that are discharge from the cores of nuclear reactors. Like the core-derived waste, the waste left from the bomb includes over 200 fission product isotopes including strontium-90 and cesium-137. In addition, the nuclear blast produced radioactive hydrogen (tritium). The tritium can migrate along with any mobile water that may enter the cavity. One important difference between the waste derived from reactor cores and the debris left by the explosion is that it is likely that the explosion debris includes approximately two kilograms of “unburned” plutonium-239 (half-life 24,000 years). Fallen granite rubble from the collapsed cavity ceiling fills the slug pool and extends for over 400 feet to the top of the final ceiling. An extensive network of voids in the rubble chimney connects with a vast network of fractures that radiate out several hundred feet beyond the cavity walls. A small quantity of radioactive material reached the surface during drill-back operations. This hazardous material was subsequently buried beneath several feet of uncontaminated soil during “site restoration” activities. The many millions of dollars that were spent on the planning, conduction and then finally on the “site restoration” did not include the cost of the perpetual groundwater monitoring program. A recent study has indicated that many of the existing groundwater monitoring locations are poorly situated. The Shoal site lies adjacent to a couple of old Navy bombing ranges. A massive explosion around the mid 1980s destroyed the Project Shoal monument. Since then there has been no effort to replace the monument or mark the site. The plaque that described the Shoal event failed to even suggest that a potential hazard existed below the monument. The United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Sections 191.13(a) and 191.14(c) describe the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirement for isolating nuclear waste “…for 10,000 years after disposal…” and for marking the disposal site with “…the most permanent markers…” which “…indicates the dangers of the waste and their location.” [See 40 CFR 191.13(a) and 40 CFR 191.14(c)]. The Shoal Site is just one of the United State’s ten underground nuclear detonation sites that is outside the borders of the Nevada Test Site, the traditional test site in southern Nevada. The offsite areas have, to a large extent, been abandoned.

For further information you may contact A E SYSTEMS, P.O. Box 7052, Menlo Park, CA 94026-7052