Rio Blanco
The Rio Blanco site is located 58 kilometers (36 miles) northwest of Rifle,
Colorado. The Rio Blanco tests were conducted under the Plowshare Program,
which was a series of nuclear and conventional tests conducted by Atomic Energy
Commission to explore peacetime uses of nuclear explosives. The Rio Blanco
tests were designed to increase natural gas production from low-permeability
sandstone. The Project Rio Blanco test, which was located approximately 36
miles northwest of Rifle, consisted of the nearly simultaneous detonation of
three 33-kiloton devices in a 2,130 meter (7,000 feet) well in May 1973. The
Rio Blanco test was the third gas production stimulation experiment in the
Plowshare Program. Contamination was present as a result of the activities
conducted on the sites in conjunction with the gas stimulation testing and gas
flaring operations.
At the Rio Blanco site, contamination consisted of radioactive contamination of
the deep bedrock around the shot cavities; contamination of a deep zone in FCG
Well No. 1, in which contaminated water from the production testing and
decontamination operations was injected; possible surface contamination from
the gas flaring activities; and near-surface hazardous waste contamination from
the closed mud pits. Ground water is the most likely transport medium for the
deep contamination. The cleanup strategy was to characterize ground-water flow
and area of contamination, assess risk, and model contaminant movement away
from the shot cavities. The focus was on tritium, since it was the most mobile
of the potential radiological contaminants. In FY 2007,
Legacy Management  will take responsibility for this site.
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