Rulison
Encyclopedia
Project Rulison, named after the rural community of Rulison, Colorado, was a 40-kiloton nuclear test project in the United States
on September 10, 1969, about 8 miles SE of the town of Grand Valley, Colorado (now named Parachute, Colorado
) near western Colorado
's Grand Valley
in Garfield County
. The location of "Surface Ground Zero" is 39°24′19.0"N 107°56′54.7"W. It was part of the Operation Mandrel
weapons test series under the name Mandrel Rulison, as well as the Operation Plowshare
project which explored peaceful engineering uses of nuclear explosions. The peaceful aim of Project Rulison was to determine if natural gas
could be easily liberated from underground regions.
After the successful test in which approximately 10 times the amount of natural gas was liberated as compared to traditional methods, fear of radiation made the natural gas, which contained a small and continually decreasing percentage of radionuclides, unmarketable. The Department of Energy
began a clean up of the site in the 1970s which was completed in 1998. A buffer zone
put in place by the state of Colorado still exists around the site. A January 2005 report by the DOE stated that radioactivity levels were normal at the surface and in groundwater
, though a later report due in 2007 is expected to more fully explore if there is subsurface contamination and whether or not radioactivity is still spreading outward from the blast site itself.
The Houston, Texas
-based company Presco is seeking to drill for natural gas within the buffer zone as of June 2005, putting in as many as four wells. The company had initially received approval to drill one well, but the county dropped its support when more extensive plans were revealed.
The only other nuclear test to take place in Colorado, 1973's Project Rio Blanco, also had similar aims.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on September 10, 1969, about 8 miles SE of the town of Grand Valley, Colorado (now named Parachute, Colorado
Parachute, Colorado
The Town of Parachute is a Statutory Town in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,006 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Parachute is located at ....
) near western Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
's Grand Valley
Grand Valley (Colorado)
The Grand Valley is an extended populated valley, approximately 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, located along the Colorado River in Mesa County in western Colorado and Grand County, Utah in the United States. The valley contains the city of Grand Junction, as well as other smaller communities...
in Garfield County
Garfield County, Colorado
Garfield County is the eighth most extensive and the twelfth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 43,791 at U.S. Census 2000. The county is named in honor of United States President James A. Garfield...
. The location of "Surface Ground Zero" is 39°24′19.0"N 107°56′54.7"W. It was part of the Operation Mandrel
Operation Mandrel
Operation Mandrel was a series of 53 nuclear test explosions conducted in 1969 and 1970. This test series included a 1.2 megaton "calibration shot" code-named Milrow, which was detonated underground at Amchitka Island, Alaska, and the 40 kiloton gas stimulation experiment code-named Rulison,...
weapons test series under the name Mandrel Rulison, as well as the Operation Plowshare
Operation Plowshare
Project Plowshare was the overall United States term for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes...
project which explored peaceful engineering uses of nuclear explosions. The peaceful aim of Project Rulison was to determine if natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
could be easily liberated from underground regions.
After the successful test in which approximately 10 times the amount of natural gas was liberated as compared to traditional methods, fear of radiation made the natural gas, which contained a small and continually decreasing percentage of radionuclides, unmarketable. The Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
began a clean up of the site in the 1970s which was completed in 1998. A buffer zone
Buffer zone
A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
put in place by the state of Colorado still exists around the site. A January 2005 report by the DOE stated that radioactivity levels were normal at the surface and in groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
, though a later report due in 2007 is expected to more fully explore if there is subsurface contamination and whether or not radioactivity is still spreading outward from the blast site itself.
The Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
-based company Presco is seeking to drill for natural gas within the buffer zone as of June 2005, putting in as many as four wells. The company had initially received approval to drill one well, but the county dropped its support when more extensive plans were revealed.
The only other nuclear test to take place in Colorado, 1973's Project Rio Blanco, also had similar aims.
External links
- Rulison Site Environmental Management End State Vision – January 2005 DOE report (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
)(Dead Link) - Rulison Site, Office of Legacy Management