Gasbuggy Atomic Explosion Site

The Gasbuggy Nuclear Test Site marks the location of a 1967 underground nuclear explosion designed to test whether nuclear devices could be used to increase natural gas production. The experiment was part of Project Plowshare, a federal program that explored peaceful industrial uses for nuclear explosives, and it became the first nuclear detonation conducted for a commercial energy purpose.

The test was carried out by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in partnership with the El Paso Natural Gas Company. The technique, called “gas stimulation”, was intended to fracture dense underground rock and release natural gas that could not otherwise be extracted economically.

A 29-kiloton nuclear device was lowered to the bottom of a 4,240-foot shaft drilled into a gas-bearing shale formation. The explosion created an underground cavity roughly 80 feet wide and 335 feet high, while also fracturing the surrounding rock and allowing natural gas to collect inside. Although the experiment largely worked as intended, the resulting gas was contaminated with radioactive material and could not be sold through public utility systems.