Project GNOME

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Project GNOME was the first nuclear explosion to be used for peaceful purposes. It was detonated on December 10, 1961 near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It helped expand knowledge of nuclear detonations underground, helped scientists study the possibility of converting heat produced by a nuclear explosion into steam for the production of electric power, helped scientists explore the feasibility of recovering radioisotopes for the scientific and industrial applications and used the high flux of neutrons produced by the detonation for a variety of measurements that contributed to scientific knowledge in general and to the reactor development program. THe GNOME device was placed 1,184 feet underground in bedded rock salt at the end of a 1,116 foot hooked tunnel meant to be self-sealing. A shaft 1,216 feet deep and ten feet wide ended in a station room connected to the tunnel. GNOME was detonated at noon in the New Mexico time zone and had a yield of 3.1 kilotons. Even thouch the scientists had planned GNOME to be a contained explosion, it vented into the atmosphere. Within three minutes of the explosion of GNOME, steam rose from the shaft. About 340 meters southwest of the site, radioactive materials leaked into the atmosphere. The radiation levels and amounts of steam were very high. Six days after GNOME's detonation, recovery operations began, although they were delayed because the radiation levels were even higher than after the explosion. On May 17, 1962, workers reentered the cavity and found temperatures as high as 140º Fahrenheit but not much radiation.