| Show t. t 5 r i t Y sl COLORADO r f f SH iS ND WA aaP t b a war e. e Ls n 1 5 4 y fur 1 f f U 1 M 4 4 Am rM 4 i iY Y j. j F a ax E AS r a x a 4 l i dt tl aS r l o C f aT ioa ar d Ok lil a tr p q w u s d' d shale Inure t an ray n dt oaf Fo r THE MAJOR OIL SHALE RESERVES of the fhe world are found In the Green River formation located in the corners corner's corners of Utah W Wyoming oming and Colorado shaded area on map This formation contains In the excess of two trillion barrels of oil in place in n the form of oil shale Peaceful P Use of f Nuclear Energy Enters in in Gas Oil Shale Recovery The peaceful uses uses' of chemical chem chemical ical high explosives are are many They helped dig the Panama Erie and Corinth Canals Without Without With out them modern modem mining would be impossible Explosives Explosives Explosives' ives ives' start reluctant oil wells flowing blast menacing rocks tree stumps and dig ditches They make possible many man of the feats of modern construct construction tion There are solid explosives jellied explosives and liquid explosives T There ere are explosIves explosives explosives ives in cartridges explosives in the form of pellets pow pow- powder powder powder der and ribbons and explosives explosives ives that stick and can be shaped like putty ALTHOUGH it t took nearly years for the chemical black powder explosives to tobe tobe tobe be adopted from military purposes purposes pur poses to mining the imaginative imagine alive mind of man is is already defining with defining with the atomic age only two decades old old old-an an array array ar ar- ar ray of of peaceful wonders and benefits from nuclear explosives ives Users are as varied as those of chemical lc l high explosives ives Even as all nuclear energy has brought a new dimension to the term explosion so soman soman soman man has begun to think in terms terms- of heretofore impossible impose sible sibie things he can now do doIng doing doing ing basic industrial chemicals directly from mineral deposits Possible peaceful uses for nuclear explosives are many and varied Some have been appraised as feasible both economically and technically for use in the immediate future future fut fut fut- ure others have been set with Ith ex explosions GEOGRAPHICAL engineering engineer engineer- ing log describes the use of nuclear nuclear nu nu- clear explosives to change the geography of our planet Dig- Dig Vernal is located strategically in the center of the for mation Recent announcement ement of nuclear site is lust just south of Vernal in Uinta Basin Basin rich 25 gal per ton oil shale deposits ging sea sea level level canals between oceans stripping overburdens from deep mineral deposits cutting highways and railroad passes through mountains creating harbors and lakes where none existed before and altering watersheds for letter better distribution of water resources Nor do proposals forPe for peaceful peace peace- peace peaceful ce ful uses of nuclear explosions stop with large scale large scale le earth earth- earthmoving moving Also envisioned are constructing underground reservoirs reservoirs re reo increasing gas well productivity fracturing oil shale deposits for for- extraction of oil by in situ retorting and controlling subterranean water movements EVENTUALLY the energy from nuclear explosives may may even be used for underground desalting of sea water for producing steam and for creat- creat aside for consideration until the distant future Almost all require further evaluation and testing and a program to provide the needed needed need need- ed studies and experiments was assigned by the government government government govern govern- ment to a special program called Plowshare formally established in the summer of 1957 THE MISSION of Plowshare Plowshare Plowshare Plow share is to develop within years a technology for using nuclear explosives peacefully comparable to that developed for or conventional explosives over a span of centuries To direct the Plowshare program the Atomic Energy Commission has established a Division of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives and has assigned responsibility to several research research re reo re- re search centers in California and Nevada AS THE Plowshare pro pro-J program gram currently deals only with underground explosions I thermal thermal ther there mal hazards hazards' are are not not- an important im concern Emphasis on safety safely is inherent in herent in the Plowshare program through it is the policy that no project be undertaken undertaken under under- taken until there is assurance that there will be no undue risk to public health and safety As part of its Plowshare program to investigate and develop peaceful uses for nuclear nuclear nuclear nu nu- clear explosives the has encouraged industry and other groups to participate in the program by analyzing the possible pos pot sible uses of nuclear explosIves explosIves explosives ives in their specific fields To allow such investigation the Commission in 1958 released released re re- re- re leased within the limits permitted permitted per per- by the national defense and security a schedule of cost estimates for nuclear ex explosives plosives and related services including safety studies Corporation Corporation Corporation Cor Cor- of Las Vegas Nevada Nevada Nev Nev- r ada is a corporation a f represent representing jP ing 18 firms i in oil and related industries interested in to the fur Jur further fur further ther study of the feasibility of fracturing oil shale with an underground nuclear explosion and recovering the oil by an anin in place in-place place retorting heating process A recent proposed experiment experiment ment of Corpis Corp is called the BRONCO pro- pro Continued o on page a r s w 1 w Cat r r I j I II I i rk aa a t a i t t. t a 4 t u t a L' L k w r a y DRAWING SHOWS one one method for experimental treatment of oil shale rubble In chimney after nuclear blast This Is a method suggested In the Bronco project to find technique suitable to retort oil shale by In situ process fr ESO S r J. J 1 k I I fi f t t I. I I. I j. ff It to J. J t n j I f AIR GAAS BARR BARREN N ROCK n i I INPUT r HAFTS OLES I-OLES r. r s I 0 1 1111 0 r t aL I b r I jJ Oil Q a 1 i J 6 l. l lH M n Ji K W J 3 I BARREN ROCK t x DRILL aw HOLES w du W CONCEPT OF A COMMERCIAL scale nuclear in situ re retorting retorting retorting re- re plant Oil shale is i's broken down by the heat and g force farce of nuclear blast so oil c can can n nIe be Ie pumped out in in liquid form This process would would eliminate eliminate stripping or mining crushing retorting above ground and disposing of waste required in above aboveground ground oil oil shale processing Nuclear Energy I Continued from page IB lB I The site Is located on oni i 1 owned government land In the Creek Basin of northwestern northwestern north north- western Colorado 80 miles northeast of Grand Junction and midway between Rangely 4 and 1 Meeker The The request request was submitted to the Plowshare Plowshare Plowshare Plow share program to Involve a nuclear detonation of about a 50 kiloton equivalent to tons tons' of TNT explosive at a depth of feet below the surface of the ground I The underground explosion would be expected to result I In a chimney cylindrical zone t of broken shale about feet In diameter and feet high I MOST OF the worlds world's I known o I ree r oW reserves s of oil shale are e in the United States primarily in the green of If I Colorado Utah Utah and Wyoming I An estimated two trillion barrein barrels bar bar- rein of oil is tightly locked In InI Inthis Inthis I this formation A quantity larger larger lar lar- I ger than the worlds world's present reserves of petroleum and pasto pasti past r i o pr production combined During World War II interest inter inter- est Iwas was reborn reborn- in the nations nation's oil shale reserves The Bureau of Mines and a a. a number of oil R firms have b been eit Investigating various methods of recovering oil oil 1111 shale hale Many methods methods meth meth- have been experimented wl with mo mostly above ground for forI forthe I pr processing the sh shale le all costly costly cost cost- ly j proc processes became sat lat attractive place In-place tr because it eliminated the necessity of mining crushing crush crush- log ing and disposing of the spen spent shale After processing Such a II technique would keep disturbance disturbance disturb disturb- ance of the natural landscapes at ata a a minimum At first high j v voltage electricity and injecting injecting inject inject- ing liquid nitroglycerine into existing g permeable zones was considered it tt b t Nu NUCLEAR LEAR explosions now offer a possibility for a major breakthrough in n the oil pro pro- The tremendous power the t f the nuclear explosion in a ancle ancIe all package makes it well e led for fracturing c u large r e vol vol- added s 's s of rock far underground 6 e i Nevada Opert Oper Oper- i t Office is responsible for induct of all nu nu- detonations including bile Wic health and safety n. n It has conducted Upon Unon tan fan underground nu nu- nu Vennard r In ln Nevada Electric o Alaska and MU- MU 16 1 of the wo woo one one third of t si s' s nuclear cord of to Stimulate a indicate we reservoir was deo de de- leadership o 1967 the economical called Basin of B o rth Mr venn The proy pro pro- t ty y of c chan El Pas Pas- strike m many f by l Gas Company the I ST r fact re the Bureau of Mines of the Department of Inter Inter- lur Completion of a series of day 30 production t tests est s shave have just been announced as S sali satisfactory factory Total amount of gas produced during the recent re re- cent series of tests including the periods of down blow-down necessary necessary necessary essary to reduce pressures to pre elected levels was about ITO mil ion fcc reported at the at-the the project pro This brings total production from the emplacement hole since it entered in January January Jan Jan- uary of 1968 to about million million mil mil- lion cubic feet By comparison an existing conventionally completed com com- well a little more than feet away had produced 85 million cubic feet of natural gas from the same formation during a year nine-year period THE experiment experiment ment involved the detonation of a 26 kiloton nuclear explosive ive at a depth of feet Radioactivity level did not constitute constitute constitute con con- a a- hazard to test personnel personnel per per- on the site or to the general public off the site WEDNESDAY of last week it was announced that the second nuclear experiment experiment ment in the recovery of natural natural nat nat- ural gas would be conducted in May of this year The pro project project called Rulison is Ls local 1 ed cd 12 miles southwest of Rifle Col Colorado rado The project is designed to test the use of nuclear power in the recovery of natural gas and is being directed by Austral Austral Aust Aust- ral Oil Company and Corp in agreement agreement agree agree- ment with the and the Department of Interior OFFICIALS say a 40 kiloton device would be detonated at ata a depth of feet The Bureau of Mines estimated estimated esti esti- mated that if the use of nuclear nuclear nu nu- clear explosions to to increase the recovery of natural gas proved to be technIcally and economically feas feasible ble the technique tech tech- pique would add trillion cubic feet teet of natural ea gas gag to the proved reserves El EI Paso Natural Gas pany pany recently announced that an another ther ga gas gad field stimulation be similar ins in scope scope to that of 01 and Rulison pro pro- ANOTHER announcement made last week is that of Operation Utah by by Corporation calling calling call call- ing for a nuclear explosion in inan inan an lIn area 25 miles south of Vernal Vernal Ver Ver- nal aimed spec specifically at commercial commercial com com- mercial recovery of oil from the vast deposit of oil shale in this area This project is similar to the Bronco project project pro pro- in the Creek Basin of Colorado Plans call for drilling a acore acore acore core hole to the depth of to to further test the area this summer sumer |
