24 « The Containment of Underground Nuclear Explosions
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Dy. MSPa
Photo creat Oetenss Nuciear Agency
End of Tunnel
comments in its recommendation letter to the
President. The Nevada Operations Office plans the
inventory to see if a suitable hole is available or if a
new one must be drilled.
individual tests with the responsible laboratory.
Once a hole is selected, the sponsoring laboratory
designs a plan to fill-in (or ‘*stem’’) the hole to
Both Livermore and Los Alamos maintain stock-
piles of holes in various areas ofthe test site.2! When
a specific test is proposed, the lab will check its
contain the radioactive material produced by the
explosion. The USGS and Earth scientists from
several organizations analyze the geology surround-
2IEach laboratory operates its own drilling crews conunuously to maximize the economy ofthe drilling operation.