Chapter 2—-The Nuclear Testing Program ¢ 15 OTHER LOCATIONS OF NUCLEAR TESTS U.S. nuclear test explosions were also conducted in areas other than the Pacific and the Nevada Test Site. Three tests with yields of 1 to 2 kilotons were conducted over the South Atlantic as ‘‘Operation Argus.”’ The tests (‘‘Argus I,’" Aug. 27, 1958; ‘*ArgusII,’’ Aug. 30, 1958; and ‘‘ArgusIII,’’ Sept. 6, 1958) were detonated at an altitude of 300 miles to assess the effects of high-altitude nuclear detonations on communications equipment and missile performance. Five tests, all involving chemical explosions but with no nuclear yield, were conducted at the Nevada Bombing Range to study plutonium dispersal. The tests, ‘‘Project 57 NO 1,’’ April 24, 1957; *‘Double Tracks,’* May 15, 1963; *‘Clean Slate I,”’ May 25, 1963; *‘Clean Slate II,’’ May 31, 1963; and ‘‘Clean Slate HI,’* June 9, 1963; were safety tests to establish storage and transportation requirements. Two tests were conducted in the Tatum Salt Dome near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as part of the Vela Uniform experiments to improve seismic methods of detecting underground nuclear explosions. Thefirst test ‘‘Salmon,”’ October 22, 1964, was a 5.3 kiloton explosion that formed an underground cavity. The subsequenttest ‘‘Sterling,’” December 3, 1966, was 0.38 kt explosion detonated in the cavity formed by Salmon. The purpose of the Salmon/Sterling experimentwas to assessthe use of a cavity in reducing the size of seismic signals produced by an underground nuclear test.!7 Three joint government-industry tests were conducted as part of the Plowshare Program to develop peaceful uses of nuclear explosions. The experiments were designed to improve natural gas extraction by fracturing rock formations. The first test, ‘*Gasbuggy,”’ was a 29 kiloton explosion detonated on December 10, 1967, near Bloomfield, New Mexico. The next two were in Colorado; ‘‘Rulison’’ was a 40 kiloton explosion, detonated near Grand Valley on September 10, 1969; and *‘Rio Blanco”’ was a Salvo shot of three explosions. each with a yield of 33 kt, detonated near Rifle on May 17, 1973. Three tests were conducted on Amchitka Island. Alaska. The first (October 29, 1965), ‘‘Long Shot’’ was an 80 kiloton explosion that waspart of the Vela Uniform project. The secondtest, *‘Milrow,’* October 2, 1969, was about a one megaton explosion to ‘“‘calibrate’’ the island and assure that it would contain a subsequent test of the Spartan AntiBallistic Missile warhead. The third test, ‘*Cannikin,’’ November 6, 1971, was the Spartan warhead test with a reported yield of ‘‘less than five megatons.’’ This test, by far the highest-yield underground test ever conducted by the United States, was too large to be safely conducted in Nevada. '8 Three individual tests were also conducted in variousparts of the western United States. *‘Gnome"’ was a 3 kiloton test conducted on December 10, 1961 near Carlsbad, New Mexico,to create a large underground cavity in salt as part of a multipurpose experiment. One application was the possible use of the cavity for the storage of oil and gas. **Shoal”’ was a 12 kiloton test conducted on October 26, 1963 near Fallon, Nevada as part of the Vela Uniform project. ‘‘Faultless’’ was a test with a yield of between 200 and 1,000 kiloton that was exploded on January 19, 1968, at a remote area near Hot Creek Valley, Nevada, Faultless was a ground-motion calibrationtest to evaluate a Central Nevada Supplemental Test Area. The area was proposed as a alternative location for high-yield tests to decrease the ground shaking in Las Vegas. THE NEVADATESTSITE The Nevada Test Site is located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It covers 1,350 square miles. an area slightly larger than RhodeIsland (figure 2-2). The test site is surrounded on three sides by an additional 4,000 to 5,000 square miles belonging to Nellis Air Force Base and the Tonopah Test Range. Thetest site has an administrative center, a control point, and areas where various testing activities are conducted. Atthe southern end ofthe test site is Mercury, the administrative headquarters and supply base for For a complete discussion ofthe issues related to Seismic Verification see, U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Seismic Verification ofNuctear Testing Treaties, OTA-ISC-361, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1988. '8The predictions of ground motion suggested that an unacceptable amount(in terms ofclaims and dollars) of damage would occur to structures if the test was conducted in Nevada.