|
Since
the Wagon Wheel project involved a large number of people, places,
groups, and technical jargon, this page is included to help you
keep track of the same. If the term you are looking for is
missing, please email me, and I will do my best to explain it to
you and to post an entry here. Please note, I am not a
nuclear scientist, I am a policy analyst. I have no idea how to build a nuclear bomb (although I
think I have some good
ideas).
AEC: The Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) was a
government agency that both promoted and regulated the nuclear
industry in the United States through the mid-1970s. This
was the key government agency in Project Plowshare. Since
being disbanded, the successor agencies are the Department
of Energy for promotion and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission for regulation.
Atomic
Energy Commission: See AEC
Atoms
for Peace: A program....
Birr,
Phyllis: Member of the WWIC, Ms. Birr was
also a reporter for the Pinedale Roundup, the local
newspaper.
Casper
Star-Tribune: The Casper Star-Tribune is Wyoming's
only statewide newspaper, and serves, unofficially, as the
newspaper of record. It maintains a web site today at http://www.trib.com/.
Unfortunately, the web site is not nearly as well done as the
print version.
El
Paso Natural Gas: See EPNG.
EPNG:
The El Paso Natural Gas Company ........ Today the company
is known as El Paso Energy
Corporation.
Gasbuggy:
Info Here
Hathaway:
Governor Hathaway served as Governor of Wyoming (more here)
High
Country News: High Country News (HCN) is an
environmental newspaper currently based out of Paonia,
Colorado. During the Wagon Wheel era, the newspaper was
based in Lander, Wyoming. You can view its web site at http://www.hcn.org/.
An essay about Rulison was published in
1994 by HCN. You can read
it.
Project
Wagon Wheel: See Wagon Wheel.
Nuclear
Stimulation: Nuclear Stimulation is a process by which nuclear
devices (bombs) are used to crack tight sandstone formations in
which natural gas exists but is unable to flow to a well. In
theory, by detonating a nuclear device you will fracture the tight
formations and the natural gas will then be able to flow out and
up for human use. This theory was test at Gasbuggy
(New Mexico), Rulison (Colorado), and Rio
Blanco (Colorado). It was proposed for Wagon
Wheel (Wyoming). See the Nuclear Stimulation page for
images and further explanation.
Plowshare:
Plowshare was the informal name for "Project Plowshare,"
a program by the AEC to promote the peaceful
uses of nuclear devices. Proposed projects included blasting
a canal through Nicaragua, making cuts through mountains for
highways and the creation of underground reservoirs to store
water, in addition to nuclear
stimulation of natural gas fields. The term
"Plowshare" comes from the Bible, Isaiah 2:4, beating
"swords into plowshares." The nuclear bomb was the
sword in this case.
Project
Plowshare: See Plowshare.
Randolph,
Phillip: Phillip was the director
of EPNG's El Paso Nuclear Group.
Rio
Blanco: Info Here
Rubble
Chimney: This is what results after a nuclear device is
detonated underground. In general they share certain
characteristics no matter what the ultimate designed use. To
see a diagram, see the Rubble Chimney
Page.
Rulison:
A Nuclear Stimulation project proposed and carried out in
Colorado.
Wagon
Wheel: This was the informal name of the project to test
nuclear stimulation in Wyoming, the formal name being
"Project Wagon Wheel." This project was proposed
for Sublette County, Wyoming, about twenty miles south of the
county seat, Pinedale.
Wagon
Wheel Information Committee: This group was initially formed
in order to gather more information about Wagon Wheel, eventually
the group decided to oppose the project and set forth to stop the
project from moving forward. An outline of the preliminary
research they conducted is provided.
|
