Nuclear crater Sedan

The nuclear crater is located in Sedan, Nevada Test site, about 90 miles North of Las Vegas. It is the result of nuclear testing, underground nuclear explosions carried out on 6 July 1962 in the course of the Plowshare Program. This program was launched in June 1957 to explore the possible benefits from controlled nuclear explosions. The idea was that a nuclear explosion could easily excavate a large area, facilitating the creation of canals and roads, improving mining techniques, or simply moving a large mass of rocks and soil. The intensity and distribution of radiation, however, proved too large and the program was abandoned. Operation Plowshare included 27 thermonuclear explosions. Only four of them were aimed at the creation of craters, among which the Sedan was by far the biggest.







Source: lifeglobe.net/