Peaceful Nuclear Explosions and the Geography of Scientific Authority

From 1957 to 1973, scientists and engineers working under the direction of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and its Livermore laboratory investigated, experimented with, and promoted the idea of ‘peaceful’ uses of nuclear explosives through a program called Project Plowshare. Proponents confidently argued that the ‘geographical engineering’ (as it was called) of harbors, canals, dams, and mountain passes could be accomplished safely, economically, and scientifically by means of nuclear-blasted excavation. But the nuclear earthmoving explosions also produced large amounts of radioactive fallout, and with it, significant challenges to the program on scientific grounds. This paper examines several moments from the contested career of nuclear earthmoving to show how scientific and technical research under the Plowshare program, developed out of the resources of Cold War American science, was structured by geographical variations in scientific authority.

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