Project Shoal was an underground nuclear test that took place on October 26, 1963 within the Sand Springs Range

Sand Springs Range

The Sand Springs Range is a short mountain range located in western Nevada in the United States within the Great Basin. It is approximately long and is in Churchill County. It separates Salt Wells from Fairview Valley . To the north, it is separated from the Stillwater Range by Sand Springs Pass...

, approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) southeast of Fallon, Nevada

Fallon, Nevada

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,536 people, 3,004 households, and 1,877 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,474.1 people per square mile . There were 3,336 housing units at an average density of 1,095.2 per square mile...

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Project Shoal was part of the Vela Uniform

Vela Uniform

Vela Uniform was an element of Project Vela conducted jointly by the United States Department of Energy and the Advanced Research Projects Agency...

program sponsored jointly by the U.S Department of Defense and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Vela Uniform was directed toward locating, detecting, and identifying underground detonations. The objective of Project Shoal was to detonate a nuclear device underground in an active seismic area so that seismic traces for the test and prior earthquakes could be compared and differentiated.


The test was performed on October 26, 1963. It involved detonating a 12-kiloton nuclear device in granitic rock at a depth of approximately 1211 feet (369.1 m) below ground surface.