Project Chariot: Use of Nuclear Devices for Construction Government Documents

Project Chariot: Use of Nuclear Devices for Construction Government Documents

6,705 pages of United States Government Documents covering Project Chariot's intention to create a harbor in Alaska using atomic detonation, reports, and histories.

This idea was conceived in 1957 at the Atomic Energy Commission's Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore, California. It was only one of the many ideas advanced by Edward Teller, director of the lab.

In 1958, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission began acting on Project Chariot, a proposal to construct an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson on the North Slope of Alaska by detonating a string of nuclear devices.  Project Chariot was one of several projects planned under the auspices of Operation Plowshare which was developed to explore the use of nuclear explosions for peacetime construction.

This collection contains:

Records of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of the Interior Files

4,740 pages of Department of the Interior files related to Project Chariot. This series consists of geologic, geophysical, and geochemical studies and other records created by personnel connected with Project Chariot. 

This collection includes correspondence between the Alaskan Geologic Branch and its central office, the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and other interested parties. 

The folder material also includes Agenda and notes from 1962 Project Plowshare meeting in Berkeley, CA; Evaluation of contamination to water supplies; General file on nuclear special projects; Geology and hydrology of the Nevada test site; November 1960 256 pound HE test.

Along with various reports; minutes of meetings; geological and other surveys; proposals; budget records; memorandums; maps and drawings; and operation plans. 

Additional Reports and Histories

Supplementary Report on Geologic Investigations in Support of Phase II, Project Chariot in the Vicinity of Cape Thompson, Northwestern Alaska by Reuben Kachadoorian (1960) and 3 other reports.

Abstract: Since 1958 the U.S. Geological Survey, on behalf of the Atomic Energy Commission, has conducted geological studies to develop data which will contribute to determining the feasibility and safety of detonating several nuclear devices to create an excavation at the mouth of Ogotoruk Creek, northwestern Alaska. The proposed test excavation is Project Chariot of the Atomic Energy Commission's Operation Plowshare Program.


Geologic Aspects of the November 1960 High-Explosive Test at the Project Chariot Site, Northwestern Alaska by Reuben Kachadoorian. (1961)

A 1961 U. S. Department of the Interior report. Abstract: In November 1960, a 256-pound high explosive cratering experiment was conducted at the Chariot test site, northwestern Alaska.  

 
Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosives Project PLOWSHARE (1962)

This report summarizes the AEC activity in the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives. The primary effort in this field is being conducted by the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory under the PLOWSHARE program. The report was created by the Defense Atomic Support Agency of the Sandia National Laboratories.

 
Bioenvironmental Features of the Ogotoruk Creek Area, Cape Thompson, Alaska (1962)

A 200-page report from the Technical Information Service Extension, United States Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This report includes Predictions and Assessments of the Effects of Nuclear Detonations Proposed for an Excavation Experiment.

 
Recovery of Drift Bottles Released in the Southeastern Chukchi Sea and Northern Bering Sea. Brown Bear Cruise 268, 26 July to 28 August 1960. (1962) 

A 26-page technical report produced by the Department of Oceanography, University of Washington. The University conducted an oceanographic survey of the northern Bering and southeastern Chukchi Seas. Brown Bear Cruise 268 was a part of Phase Three of Project Chariot and was jointly supported by the Office of Naval Research and the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission. 

 
Environment of the Cape Thompson Region, Alaska (1966)

A 1,266-page report by the Committee on Environmental Studies for Project Chariot United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The report has an introduction by John S. Kelly, Director Division of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives.

 

Projects GNOME and SEDAN Technical Report the Plowshare Program (1983)

 This report describes the activities of DOD personnel and other participants in Projects GNOME, and SEDAN, the first two nuclear tests of the PLOWSHARE Program. The PLOWSHARE nuclear tests were conducted from 1961 to 1973 at the NTS and other locations. Activities engaging DOD personnel at GNOME and SEDAN included scientific experiments to improve U.S. capabilities in detecting underground nuclear explosions and to determine peacetime uses of nuclear explosives.

 
Reconnaissance Observations of Long-Term Natural Vegetationa1, Recovery in the Cape Thompson Region, Alaska, and Addition to the Checklist of Flora (1985)

A report on the effect on the environment by Project Chariot.

 
The Legacy of Project Chariot (1992)

A Bureau of Indian Affairs Brochure

 
Newspapers

 60 Full sheet Alaska newspaper pages dating from April 20, 1959 to May 29, 1963,  covering  Project Chariot. The newspapers include the Nome Nugget, and Fairbanks’ The Tundra.