Encyclopedia > Operation Plowshare

Article Content

Operation Plowshare

Operation Plowshare was the overall American term for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. It was coined in 1961.

Proposed uses included widening the Panama Canal, constructing a new waterway through Nicaragua or cutting paths through mountainous areas for highways.

It has never been applied, but it has been tested. These twenty-eight shots were conducted in conjunction with other, weapons-related, test series. These are annotated under the 'notes' column.

The name of the operation came from a bibilical verse in the Book of Isaiah about turning swords into plowshares.

The planned Chariot blast in Alaska was never carried out.

The individual tests were:

**Plowshare Test Blasts**
Test Name	Date	Location	Yield	Note
Gnome	10 December 1961	Carlsbad, New Mexico	3 Kilotons	Nougat
Sedan	6 July 1962	Nevada Test Site	104 Kilotons	Storax
Anacostia	27 November 1962	Nevada Test Site	'Low'	Dominic I and II
Kaweah	21 February 1963	Nevada Test Site	'Low'	Dominic I and II
Tornillo	11 October 1963	Nevada Test Site	'Low'	Niblick
Klickitat	20 February 1964	Nevada Test Site	24 Kilotons	Niblick
Ace	11 June 1964	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Niblick
Dub	30 June 1964	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Niblick
Par	9 October 1964	Nevada Test Site	38 Kilotons	Whetstone
Handcar	5 November 1964	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Whetstone
Sulky	5 November 1964	Nevada Test Site	0.9 Kilotons	Whetstone
Palanquin	14 April 1965	Nevada Test Site	4.3 Kilotons	Whetstone
Templar	24 March 1966	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Flintlock
Vulcan	25 June 1966	Nevada Test Site	25 Kilotons	Flintlock
Saxon	11 July 1966	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Latchkey[?]
Simms	6 November 1966	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Latchkey[?]
Switch	22 June 1967	Nevada Test Site	Less than 20 Kt	Latchkey[?]
Marvel	21 September 1967	Nevada Test Site	2.2 Kilotons	Crosstie[?]
Gasbuggy	10 December 1967	Farmington, New Mexico	29 Kilotons	Crosstie[?]
Cabriolet	26 January 1968	Nevada Test Site	2.3 Kilotons	Crosstie[?]
Buggy	12 March 1968	Nevada Test Site	5.4 Kilotons	Crosstie[?]
Stoddard	17 September 1968	Nevada Test Site	About 13 Kilotons	Bowline[?]
Schooner	8 December 1968	Nevada Test Site	30 Kilotons	Bowline[?]
Rulison	10 September 1968	Grand Valley, Colorado[?]	47 Kilotons	Mandrel[?]
Flask	26 May 1970	Nevada Test Site	105 Kilotons	Mandrel[?]
Miniata	8 July 1971	Nevada Test Site	83 Kilotons	Grommet[?]
Rio Blanco	17 May 1973	Rifle, Colorado	3@33 Kilotons each	Toggle[?]

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!