JANUARY—DECEMBER 1963
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tributes to the Long Range Safety Program of the Nevada Operations
Office. This latter program, in turn, provides the Nevadaoffice with
the ability to review the safety of experiments and projects and to
make operational plans to protect the public during nuclear operations.
Research sponsored by the Plowshare program during the year
included studies on the movement of radioactivity in ground water
to permit assessment of any contamination of aquifers in the course
of either cratering or contained detonations. For example, a hole
was drilled in the vicinity of the Aardvark weapons test event
at the Nevada Test Site to determine the effect of the detonation on
water levels as a function of time. Laboratory studies of the flow of
water in a confined aquifer have been made in the Hydrologic Laboratory of the University of California, in Berkeley, and by the
Texas A & M Research Foundation.!
Using these data. theoretical
studies have been made which indicate that radioactive contamination
of ground water is not likely to be a problem in any envisioned
application.®
Studies in the long range safety program included the response of
buildings and other structures to ground motion from nuclear explosions. Holmes & Narver, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Roland F.
Beers, Inc. of Alexandria, Va., under contract to the AEC’s Nevada
Operations Office, are engagedin thesestuclies.
Application Studies
The Geological Survey is conducting a theoretical study on the
application of nuclear explosions to the development of water re-
sources. This study covers the technical and economic feasibility of
employing nuclear explosives to develop and conserve both surface
and underground water. Ideas under investigation include: (a) fracturing rock to improve the recharge of aquifers by surface waters;
(6) fracturing rock to interconnect andincrease the capacity of aquifers; and (¢) creating surface reservoirs.
The U.S. Bureau of Minesis investigating the application of nuclear
explosives to mining, petroleum and natural gas production, and shale
oil production. Feasibility studies currently under way cover removal of the overburden from an orebody to facilitate subsequent
mining by open pit methods; leaching of minerals from an orebody
shattered and rendered permeable by a nuclear explosion; and under+The Texas A & M study is in report UCR13074. available from the Office of Technical
Services, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 20230.
2 One of these theoretical studies is included as Appendix IV to report UCRU 7550,
which is also available from the Department of Commerce.