POST-SHOT HYDROLOGIC SAFETY
Abstract
The Shoal Event, a 12.5 KT nuclear detonation, one in a series of tests in the Vela Uniform Program, occurred at 1000 hours PST on October 26, 1963, in the granite of the Sand Springs Range, about 45 kilometers southest of Fallon, Nevada. The Sand Springs Range trends northsouth and comprises jointed, faulted, and fault-bounded metamorphosed Paleozoic and Mesozoic marine sediments with a central granitic intrusive body. Alluvial-filled valleys, Fairview Valley and Fourmile Flat, are east and west of the Range, respectively. The alluvial fill in the valley contains and transmits appreciable quantities of ground water. Some ground water occurs in the granite and other crystalline rocks of the Range; however, this amount is small and movement is slow. Re- entry drilling and Hydyme results indicate that the Shoal device detonated as predicted and a rubble chimney 26 meters in radius and 108.5 meters high was formed by the explosion. Significant quantities of radionuclides were produced at Shoal; however, nuclides in ground-water solution are not free to move from the rubble chimney region until aquifer stabilization is achieved and the chimney fills with ground water.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 30, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0629407