![]() ![]() The hardened salt could be subsequently dissolved in water to extract the radioisotopes. The plan was to then pipe water through the molten salt and use the generated steam to produce electricity. For this reason, it was decided that Gnome would be detonated in bedded rock salt. It was discovered during the 1957 Plumbbob-Rainier tests that an underground nuclear detonation creates large quantities of heat as well as radioisotopes, but that most would quickly become trapped in the molten rock and become unusable as the rock resolidified. ![]() "Use the high flux of neutrons produced by the detonation for a variety of measurements that would contribute to the scientific knowledge in general and to the reactor development program in particular."."Explore the feasibility of recovering radioisotopes for scientific and industrial applications.". ![]() "Study the possibility of using the heat produced by a nuclear explosion to produce steam for the production of electric power.".Unlike most nuclear tests, which were focused on weapon development, Shot Gnome was designed to focus on scientific experiments: The site selected for Gnome is located roughly 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, in an area of salt and potash mines, along with oil and gas wells. It was tested in southeastern New Mexico on December 10, 1961, approximately 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico.įirst announced in 1958, Gnome was delayed by the testing moratorium between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from November 1958 until September 1961, when the Soviet Union resumed nuclear testing, thus ending the moratorium. Project Gnome was the first nuclear test of Project Plowshare and was the first continental nuclear weapon test since Trinity to be conducted outside of the Nevada Test Site, and the second test in the state of New Mexico after Trinity. View toward the top of the salt dome cavity created by the Gnome underground nuclear test ![]()
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