Project Sedan: A Nuclear Excavation Experiment

In 1962, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory scientists performed an excavation experiment using a nuclear device. The objective was to create a large crater at the Nevada Test Site, while producing a minimal amount of radioactive contamination in the process. This was not a weapons test, but rather a test to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear detonations for peaceful purposes. Sedan explored the feasibility of using nuclear devices for creating harbors and canals. Though the test was successful, nuclear devices were never used for such projects. Nonetheless, Sedan Crater remains the most striking feature at the Nevada National Security Site.

[@Muonium1]

Lots of cool material posted recently! It really surprised me when he was touting how 'clean' it was, being only equivalent to a 2kT blast , because I'd always thought of this shot as being very dirty, simply due to the fact that all the neutrons would have been absorbed by the overburden causing large amounts of neutron activated isotopes in the soil which would then be blown everywhere. The wiki article seems to agree?

[@BobDarlington]

Too cool. I remember when Rodney and Merri got married here.

[@slovokia]

I wonder what percentage of the plutonium in the core of the bomb that was used in the Sedan test is still trapped in the sediments around that crater? What are the risks of inhaling fine plutonium particles if you dig in that location?