Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is common in the Cowboy State. Energy companies use this technique to access hard-to-reach oil and natural gas deposits. While modern fracking uses mixtures of sand, water, and various chemicals, a proposed project in the early 1970s sought to use something else...atomic weapons.

Project Wagon Wheel was one of several proposals for using atomic fission devices for mining and civil engineering projects. Join Jeremy and John as they explore the background of an attempt at nuclear fracking and how the people of Sublette County, Wyoming, successfully pushed back against it.

Episode References:

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. Atoms for Peace. New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1953.

"The Wagon Wheel Project." WyoHistory.org. Accessed August 4,
2024. https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wagon-wheel-
project

"Project Plowshare: The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Explosives.";
Atomic Energy Commission Report. 1977.

"Project Plowshare." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified July 30, 2024.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare.

"Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified June 28, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_
Economy.

United States Atomic Energy Commission. "Draft Environmental
Impact Statement for the Proposed Wagon Wheel Project."
Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1972.

"Wyoming Votes Down Nuclear Project."The Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1972.

"Nuclear Testing for Gas Extraction Faces Local Opposition." The Des Moines Register, October 15, 1972.

The Atomic Age: From Destruction to Peace. Directed by John Smith. National Geographic, 2020.