Divine Strake Underground Bunker Bombing Test Postponed Due Legal Proceedings

2006-06-04

www.dtra.mil/ divinestrake/index.cfm

The Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is planning to conduct an experiment, Divine Strake, at the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Nevada Test Site. The experiment, originally scheduled for June 2, 2006, will not be conducted earlier than June 23, 2006. The NNSA Nevada Site Office decided to postpone the experiment due to the scheduling of legal proceedings.

The experiment will consist of the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) above an existing tunnel constructed for other research efforts. ANFO is commonly used in mining and commercial blasting operations. The amount of explosive was selected to achieve differing levels of ground shock-severe to light-along the length of the tunnel.

This experiment supports the Tunnel Target Defeat Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, which is intended to improve and validate computer model planning tools used to defeat hardened and deeply buried targets. Specifically, the Divine Strake experiment will validate and assess the capability of computer codes to predict the ground-shock environment and how the tunnel responds to that shock. This experiment is not being conducted to support any specific, existing or planned conventional or nuclear weapon. Nor does it represent a specific target.

The NNSA Nevada Site Office has issued a revised environmental assessment. The NNSA Nevada Site Office has determined that there is no residual radiation from previous testing elsewhere on the range in the vicinity of the detonation site. The tunnel has never been used for nuclear testing. There is no danger to the population of Las Vegas and the surrounding communities from this experiment. DIVINE STRAKE does not use a nuclear device, and it does not test a weapon. The NNSA Nevada Site Office and DTRA have determined that the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment. As a result, NNSA Nevada Site Office and DTRA issued a Revised Finding of No Significant Impact and authorized the proposed experiment to be conducted within the limits of applicable permits and regulations.

The explosion from the experiment will create a dust cloud that may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet, but it is not expected to be visible off the Nevada Test Site. The ground motion from the experiment is expected to be negligible away from the test site.

For additional information, please contact DTRA Public Affairs: Email: PublicAffairs@dtra.mil Phone: 1-800-701-5096

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis