Today’s Deseret News has published the article, Planned Nevada test blast worries watchdog groups: Detonation could lead to nuclear tests, some fear, referring to the “Divine Stake” test planned for June 2 at the Nevada Test Site. It is indicated that this is part of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (“bunker buster”) program.
The experiment is called “Divine Strake,” in which 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil will be blown up. (A strake is a line of metal plating along a ship’s hull.)
The explosive material, similar to that used by domestic terrorists to destroy the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, will explode with a force equivalent to 593 tons of TNT. It is expected to raise a mushroom cloud of dust, but officials say it won’t be visible off the test site.
“There is no danger to the population of Las Vegas and the surrounding communities,” says an agency release. “The test does not use a nuclear device, and it does not test a weapon.”
But an environmental assessment has revealed two other compounds will be used: Glo Germ Powder and Fluorescein USP.
Glo Germ Powder would be placed on tarps surrounding the charge hole in order to see how material disperses during the test, says the statement. Glo Germ Powder is “considered to be hazardous if it is burned, and toxic gases can be formed,” the environmental statement says.
“The powder would not be mixed in the . . . blasting agent so it would not be subjected to the oxidizing effects of the detonation.”
The test indicates the Pentagon is determined to move forward with new nuclear weapons development, said Steve Erickson, director of the Salt Lake City military watchdog group Citizens Education Project.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 