Rio Blanco: nuclear operations and chimney reentry
Rio Blanco was the third experiment in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Plowshare Program to develop technology to stimulate gas production from geologic formations not conducive to production by conventional means. The project was sponsored by CER Geonuclear Corporation, with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory providing the explosives and several technical programs, such as spall measurement. Three nuclear explosives specifically designed for this application were detonated simultaneously in a minimum-diameter emplacement well using many commercially available but established-reliability components. The explosive system performed properly under extreme temperature and pressure conditions. Emplacement and stemming operations were designed with the aim of simplifying both the emplacement and reentry and fully containing the detonation products. An integrated command and control system was used with communication to all three explosives through a single coaxial cable. Reentry and the initial production testing are completed. To date 98 million standard ft$sup 3$ of chimney gas have been produced. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Livermore
- NSA Number:
- NSA-33-002962
- OSTI ID:
- 4183202
- Journal Information:
- Nucl. Technol., v. 27, no. 4, pp. 559-622, Journal Name: Nucl. Technol., v. 27, no. 4, pp. 559-622; ISSN NUTYB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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