Show Protect Project Utah Core Study Will Determine Nuclear Blast Site Drill stem cores are being studied from the No 1 Ex 1 Ex experimental tal core hole called project Utah drilled ed to a total depth of feet eight miles southeast of Ouray in the rich oil shale lands of the Uintah Basin Operations are being conducted by Western Western West West- ern Oil Shale Corporation to test the feasibility of producing oil 01 from oil 01 shale by the use of nuclear energy PROJECT UTAH is proposed to test feasibility of creating a cavity or chimney chimney chim ney In oil shale by the explosion of a small nuclear device The shale would then be Ignited and the chimney used as an underground retort for oil production pro pro- Coring completed July 31 was the first phase of site evaluation About 1200 feet of core were cut and recovered to provide a complete columnar cross section section sec sec- tion of the Green River Formation oil In what is thought to be the thickest richest deposits in the Uintah Basin CORES WERE marked boxed and shipped to the U U. S S. Bureau of Wines Mines Laramie Wyoming for description and anda a foot foot foot-by-foot by foot assay of oil all content The No 1 Ex 1 Ex core hole was extensively extensively exten exten- logged by a wide variety of mechanical mechanical me me- logs electrical sonic and radioactive and subjected to careful hydrologic tests R RESULTS TS OF the assays mechanical logs and hydrologic tests expected to be complete in 2 to 3 months will determine determine determine deter deter- mine whether the site is suitable for a nuclear test Total depth of the core hole was feet feet feet- l 1 If the site Is determined suitable suitable suit suit- able from from all scientific technical and andI I safety aspects the nuclear device might be detonated as early as late 1970 or 1971 Depth of the explosion is expected to be about 3 feet below ground Project Utah com templates operations for the present on a considerably reduced reduced re reo pilot scale THE NO 1 Ex 1 Ex chimney would create create cre cre- ate about one one million tons of shale rubble rubble rubble rub rub- ble containing about barrels of oil As much as half of this could be consumed in the underground retorting process with the other half recovered as gaseous and liquid oil at the surface On a larger scale the process might recover tens of millions of barrels of oil per square mile THE UNDERGROUND retort process eliminates expensive mining and handling handling hand hand- ling of shale construction and maintenance ance of surface retort facilities and problems problems problems' pro pro- of disposal of spent shale a troublesome talcum powder powder like like nuisance for which no use is known Project Utah is the direct successor to Project Bronco which was planned on Federally controlled lands In the Pi Pl- Creek Basin of northwest Colorado Colo Colorado rado The Utah program is on State Stale of Utah lands ands leased to Western Oil Shale Corporation Cor Cor- SUCCESS OF the experiment may some day yield very sizable r royalty alty Income income in in- come to Utah's beleaguered treasury The Tile Utah Geological Surveys Survey's sample and c core core re library library-is library is to receive a quarter of the full core for permanent record and study |