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From: edat!brian@uunet.UU.NET (brian douglass personal account)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: How is a nuke tested underground?
Message-ID: <1991May16.052842.17870@amd.com>
Date: 15 May 91 16:52:07 GMT
References: <1991May8.034438.11095@amd.com> <1991May9.064441.13838@amd.com> <1991May14.051509.6634@amd.com>
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From: edat!brian@uunet.UU.NET (brian douglass personal account)


prentice%triton.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (John Prentice) writes:
[deleted stuff]
>There are also tests done by drilling horizontally into a mountain.
>Very large diameter and they do a good job building them.
>The chamber containing the device will have pipes running out of it
>which are used to give the radiation a pathway while still allowing
>some containment.  They also help shield experiments from each other
>and some are there just to bring out cables.  

The Tunnel I toured in the 70s was approximately 30 feet in
diameter, and upwards of 1/2 mile long.  All experiments are
supposed to be in line of sight with the bomb to allow the direct
radiation exposure (if that is what the experiment needs), hence
the tunnel had a stepped funnel cut to it, that is wider near the
emplacement point and narrower at the entrance.  

Speaking of trial and error, a few years ago apparently one of the
containment devices failed and the shock wave destroyed the test
package.  Some radiation was leaked out and there was hell to pay
according to media.  The reporters said somehere betwen $5 and $10
million worth of experiments were ruined.  Unfortunately, a couple
of workers got sizeable dosage exposure due to someones negligence.
The dosages weren't lethal, but no one is sure of the long term
effect.  Such is the price of freedom.

-- 
Brian Douglass			Voice: 702-361-1510 X311
Electronic Data Technologies	FAX #: 702-361-2545
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