Utah leaders call Divine Strake news a people's victory

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ABC 4 has confirmed that the Divine Strake test will be canceled. For more information about this story, stay tuned to ABC 4.
Statement from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Cancellation of Proposed Divine Strake Experiment

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has decided to cancel the proposed Divine Strake experiment. "I have become convinced that it's time to look at alternative methods that obviate the need for this type of large-scale test," said DTRA Director Dr. James A. Tegnelia. This decision was not based on any technical information that indicates the test would produce harm to workers, the general public, or the environment.

Divine Strake was a scientific experiment designed to significantly advance the nation's ability to defeat underground facilities that produce and store weapons of mass destruction. The experiment would have entailed detonating a large amount of a common blasting agent over an existing tunnel at the Nevada Test Site. It was to be the largest in a series of experiments that relied on the specific geology at that location.

DTRA will attempt to develop alternative scientific means for obtaining the important data that this experiment would have provided. Such methods to assess capabilities to defeat underground facilities do not currently exist. The agency will develop advanced analysis techniques and conduct confirmatory experiments at a much smaller scale to assist in developing new capabilities to defeat underground facilities.

There is a national consensus on the need to improve conventional capabilities to defeat underground targets that pose a threat to the United States. "DTRA remains committed to help develop non-nuclear means to defeat underground targets. I am optimistic that we will succeed," said Tegnelia.
Statement from Rep. Jim Matheson
Matheson: Cancellation of Divine Strake a Victory

Congressman Jim Matheson said that with today's announcement from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency that the detonation of a 700-ton explosives pile is cancelled, his efforts opposing it have been vindicated.

"I have stood in the way of this test from day one. From the time last spring when I first learned about the so-called 'Divine Strake' experiment, I have opposed it based on both its purpose and its potential ill affects. The prospect of even a non-nuclear 'mushroom cloud' over the Nevada Test Site brings back bitter memories of how the government lied when it said that there was no danger," said Matheson.

Divine Strake was to be the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. The government's draft Environmental Assessment predicted radiation-contaminated debris would be hurled thousands of feet into air. It acknowledges the likelihood that radioactive dust particles will be carried beyond the boundaries of the test site. DTRA also confirmed that the purpose of the blast is to simulate the ground shock effects of both conventional and nuclear weaponry.

Over the past ten and a half months, Matheson has communicated -through letters and meetings-to DTRA and the Department of Energy (DOE) that questionable science and dubious intent bolstered his concerns.

"If this announcement truly signals the end of Divine Strake, my hope is that DTRA would instead spend time and money on developing a conventional weapon that would actually be useful to our military in destroying deeply buried terrorist targets," said Matheson.



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No sooner had Governor Huntsman finished signing a resolution opposing the Divine Strake test, then Washington dropped its bombshell. Divine Strake had been cancelled.

Govenor Jon Huntsman says: "When issues come up that we together as a state feel strongly about and if we respond as we have to divine strake we get results."

And here's how the sponsor of that Divine Strake resolution reacted: Sen. Gene Davis, (D) – Salt Lake: "This has been a top priority in state government from the governor's office, through the legislature to try and make sure this didn't happen."

In a statement canceling the test, the department of defense writes that it has: "...become convinced that it's time to look at alternative methods that obviate the need for this type of large-scale test."

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