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Posted: 11:02 AM- WASHINGTON - A mammoth blast known as Divine Strake at the Nevada Test Site would not pose risks to residents downwind from the site, a new study said Friday, as the Pentagon moves toward conducting the weapons test, possibly as early as this spring.
The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency also announced Friday that it would hold public hearings on the test in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and St. George early next month.
The environmental study notes that historic fallout "resuspended from the detonation, have potential to be transported outside the [test site] boundary by wind. They may, therefore, contribute radiological doses to the public."
However, the report said, models indicate that maximum possible exposure is 40 to 100 times lower than the threshold at which approval by the Environmental Protection Agency would be required.
The report is a draft, that will be revised and finalized after the public is given 30 days in which to submit comments.
The Divine Strake test would detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil to help develop computer models to simulate blasts and damage to underground targets by bunker-buster bombs.
The new environmental study was the result of questions raised about potential fallout from the test by Nevada officials, and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, and Rep. Jim Matheson. A lawsuit seeking to stop the test was also filed by Utah residents suffering illnesses as a result of their exposure to fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests in Nevada and a Nevada Indian tribe.
The agency decided last month to proceed with planning at the Nevada site, after looking at several other locations, including the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah.
The blast will be about 50 times larger than the most powerful known conventional weapon and throw dust and debris thousands of feet into the air.
Pentagon budget documents originally said the test was meant to help pick the smallest nuclear weapon to destroy a hardened target, but the department has since said the inclusion of the word "nuclear" was an oversight.
The public hearings in Utah will be Jan. 10 at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, and at the Dixie Center in St. George on Jan. 11. Both begin at 6:30 p.m.