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. Its purpose was to develop seismic methods for detecting underground nuclear testing, and it involved many experts from academia, the sponsoring military agencies and the Atomic Energy Commission.
Vela Uniform incorporated seven underground nuclear tests in the continental United States and Alaska from October 1963 to July 1971. Seismic traces from multiple locations were analyzed for each of these events to develop methods for differentiating underground nuclear tests from other seismic events and locating the test site. The program also involved numerous experiments using conventional high explosives.

Vela Uniform tests

Test nameDateLocationYieldTest series
Shoal1963-10-26Sand Springs Range 12 ktNiblick
Salmon1964-10-22Salmon Site 5.3 ktWhetstone
Long Shot1965-10-29Amchitka Island, Alaska 80 ktFlintlock
Sterling1966-12-03Salmon Site 380 tLatchkey
Scroll1968-04-23Nevada Test Site < 20 ktCrosstie
Diamond Dust1970-05-12Nevada Test Site < 20 ktMandrel
Diamond Mine1971-07-01Nevada Test Site < 20 ktGrommet