The pre-shot data collection program necessary to evaluate the safety aspects of the project is described under Section E, "Operational Site Safety Program."

Prior to the experiment, instruments would be placed in the two exploratory holes to measure close-in shock pressures, particle velocities, and accelerations. Seismic measurements would also be made at about 30 points out to 40 miles from ground zero.

Subsequent to the detonation and development of a nuclear chimney several tests would be made to determine its suitability for gas storage. Among the important problems to be studied are:

1. The chimney and fractured zone geometry

2. The effective pore volume and permeability of the fractured zone

3. The maximum working storage pressure

4. The natural gas deliverability of the chimney

5. The concentration and disposition of gaseous radioisotopes

6. The efficiency of flushing

In order to use the chimney for gas storage purposes, it might be necessary to remove gaseous radioactive material, created by the explosion, from the chimney by flushing with air or gas. The need for flushing would be determined after gas samples obtained from the chimney had been analyzed. If flushing were necessary or desirable, various methods could be employed to form a basis for selecting the most effective techniques to be used in production type events. Radioactive materials, which might become entrained in the gas stream as it is produced from storage, could be removed at the surface by filtration methods.

Three basic systems of flushing (with many variations in detail) could be considered after sample analysis is complete. One method would be to use compres sors to pressurize the chimney with natural gas or air as high as 100 psi through the vertical post-shot hole (K-8, Figure 9), subsequently releasing the gas or air back up the same hole. The second method would be to create a low pressure flow circuit from the vertical post-shot hole (K-8, Figure 9) through the whipstocked post-shot hole (K-7, Figure 9) and vice versa. (This hole might also be used for water removal from the base of the chimney.) The third method would be to evacuate the chimney gases through one of these post-shot holes.