What if the best way to get more gas out of the ground was to set off a nuclear bomb under it? It sounds like a bad movie plot, but the US government really did try it. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Atomic Energy Commission detonated a 29-kiloton nuclear device in northwestern New Mexico on December 10, 1967. The idea was to break up the rock deep underground to get more natural gas flowing. The test was named Project Gasbuggy.
A blast 4,227 feet underground
The site is located about 55 miles east of Farmington in Carson National Forest. The device went off 4,227 feet down, aimed at a gas-bearing rock layer called the Pictured Cliffs Formation. Gasbuggy was the first natural-gas experiment of the Plowshare Program, a program designed to find peaceful uses for nuclear energy. It was jointly sponsored by the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of the Interior, and El Paso Natural Gas Co.
The explosion was extremely hot. It melted and vaporized the surrounding rock, creating a temporary cavity. Soon after, broken rock fell into that opening, forming a pile of rubble known as a collapse chimney. As the cavity cooled, the melted rock froze at the bottom. Most of the radioactive material, which has a high melting point, was trapped in this glassy rock, often called melt glass, the Department of Energy explains. The idea dates back to 1957, when El Paso Natural Gas wrote to scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose researchers did the technical work, asking whether nuclear explosives could enhance gas output.
Five tests, 213 million cubic feet, one big catch
After the blast, crews drilled a new well into the collapse chimney. According to the Department of Energy, production testing began in July 1968 and ended in October 1969, producing 213 million cubic feet of natural gas over five tests. The lab adds that gas production increased six to eight times compared to previous rates. But there was a big catch: the gas was measurably radioactive. The lab’s history indicates tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, and says the device was designed to minimize leftover radiation. Even so, the gas contained a high concentration of it. That is because tritium is a form of hydrogen, so unlike most other radioactive byproducts, it was not locked in the melt glass and instead mixed with the gas. Personnel evaluating the results also observed that the gas had a significantly lower heat value and that the gas-bearing formation had fewer fractures than expected.
Why the dream faded, and what remains
Gasbuggy was only the first attempt. Two more Plowshare gas tests followed, Project Rulison in September 1969 and Project Rio Blanco in May 1973, both in Colorado. The lab says those tests showed it was technically possible to boost gas with nuclear explosives, but no one ever proved it made financial sense.
The program officially ended in 1977, partly because of environmental concerns and opposition to nuclear energy. Cleanup came later. Crews decontaminated and removed test equipment, sent solid radioactive waste to the Nevada National Security Site, and plugged the test wells. Liquid radioactive waste was injected into the lower part of the collapse chimney. Mud pits were cleaned out in September 2004, when 5,562 cubic yards of contaminated soil were removed, bringing the surface cleanup to a close.
The Department of Energy says today that contamination from the test is limited to the blast zone near the borehole and that modeling shows it is not expected to reach nearby gas wells. The agency has sampled nearby gas wells since 2009 and has found no contaminants associated with Gasbuggy. Now a brass plaque on the site marks the project’s place in history. Getting gas out of the ground is only half the job, and Gasbuggy shows it. It also had to be clean enough and cheap enough to be practical, and this experiment never got there.