Milford chronicle., 1955-05-20
Gas Equipment
Survived Test
At Yucca Flat

It's no news that nothing sur
wives the fury of direct atomic at
tack, but the recent Operation
Cue at Yucca Flat went a long
way toward proving that a house
holder and mis- belongings have
some chance of survival at less
than a mile from ground zero.
A statement just issued by the
Gas Appliance Manufacturers Asso-
citation reports that utility gas
mains, bottled gas cylinders and
gas appliances serving the test
homes in Survival City were found
to have suffered little or no dam
age.
The trade group, which coopera-
ted actively in building the test
community, pointed out that the
effects observable within the first
hours after the shot proved the
suryivability of utility gas service
and the disability of gas appliances
and equipment under conditions OF
extreme emergency.
Based on a joint announcement
of Atomic Energy Commission,
Department of Defense, and Fed
eral Civil Defense observers at the
scene of the Nevada blast, the
CANA report revealed that gas
ranges, water heaters and room
heaters in slab houses at 400
feet were slightly damaged but
usable, while water heaters and
clothes dryers installed in base
ments entirely escaped injury.
AS to the effects of underground
gas piping, valve pits and regula-
tor vaults of the type used in ma
tionwide utility gas service, official
project officers at Yucca Flat re-
ported no apparent damage at 1,410
feet and 400 feet. 1t is true that
vault ventilating pipes extending
above the ground were sheared Off
at ground level. However, this had
no effect on vault functions.
Also undamaged were service
piping to houses at 400 feet and
10,500 feet, and house meters and
regulators outside the east wall of
test dwellings, as well as piping in
side these homes, the report showed.
In one home near the bomb site
a gas regulator and meter attached
10 the basement wall were torn at
the piping connections but were
considered usable when repiped.
CANA said there were no visible
effects on a gas refrigerator, range,
water heater and room heater in a
home at the 10,500-foot mark.
In the battled gas Oiquefied pc
troleuml test of Operation Cue
bulk tank of LIP gas used for fill
ing smaller home-type cylinders
sustained only superficial damage
1t was confined to- ladder, railing
and cat-walk on top of the tank.
All valves and piping were intact
No gas was leaking and the entire
coEtents of the tank-15, 400 gallons
of the fuel-remained available for
use.
Of eight cylinders installed in
Survival City dwellings, none was
ruptured or punctured. Even those
located outside homes at the 1,S4O-
foot and 2,750-foot lines suffered
only minor damage. Two 500-gal-
lon tanks at these forward points
remained intact, and seven of the
eight cylinders remained service
able. The eighth had its shut-of
valve sheared off by impact. 1t was
especially significant, said CANA
that thermal damage was non
existent,"-in other words, there
was no evidence of fire.
The test indicated that liquefied
petroleum gas, used in millions of
rural and suburban homes to op-
crate kitchen, laundry and heating
appliances, will remain available as
fuel even when exposed to severe
atomic effects. The bomb fired in
Operation Cue" was estimated to
have exerted force equal to that
of 35. 900 tons of dynamite.