INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 3. The oll-sands firing In the Athabaska area of Alberta, Canada, of a device with afew tens of kilotons at a depth 1,200 to 1,500 feet. The Richfield Ol] Company has developed a rather definitive plan for this experiment, The company has offered to prepare the site of detonation and to furnish logistic support, and has offered also to reimburse the AEC for producing the explosion, We have offered to supply information, advice, and technical assistance to any Joint Richfield—Canadian organization set up to formulate plans for the experijment, Further action on plans for this experiment is contingent upon approval by and a request from the Canadian Government, ‘ 5 4, Civil engineering applications, At some time during the 1960-1961 period the AEC hopes to conduct one or more civil engineering experiments, Several possibili- ties have been suggested including the excavation of a harbor in Alaska, the breaking of an atoll reef, and the clearance of the Madeira River in Brazil, ‘ Numerous inquirles and proposals have been received from, and meetings have been held with, representatives of private industry who are interested in the PLOWSHAREproject, These Include most of the major of] companies, many chemical companies, some mining firms, some engineering firms, and varlous other industrial groups, In order to assist industry in participating in Project PLOWSHARE, the AEC has deter- > . whe mined, and the Department of Defense has concurred, thatthe following genera] information on size, yleld, and cost of nuclear devices can be furnished to science and industry on an unclassified basis, Use of such information will permit them to evaluate more fully the economics of conducting experiments or detonations for peaceful purposes: Ate 2. The cost of fabricating and firing a device 30 inches in diameter of a few tens of kilotons yield, ali from fission, would approximate $750,000 when made ay ailable in small numbers, ’ 8. The cost of fabricating and firing a device 60 inches in diameter with a yield range up to 5 megatons, 5 percent from fission and 95 percent from fusion, would be approximately $1,000,000 in small numbers, oats ‘ ye tes , , 4tee the alt eh "pe a ®, y aeiN deal 1, The cost of fabricating and firing a device $0 inches in diameter and of a few kilotons yield, all from fission, would approximate $500,000 when made ayailable in small numbers, 4, In the event of multiple firing in the same location, or of using large numbers of devices, the cost per firing would be substantially reduced. 5. These costs are only those incident to the fabrication of the device, emplacing it in its firing location, making the firing attachments,firing, and studies to assure public safety and to determine the results of the detonation. The costs do not include costs of preparing a hole, shaft, structures for the firing, or studies to determine the extent of industrial utility. (End of (gue section.) DOE ARCHIVES Department cf istnn ’ ISTEDAnts 42 | ,