The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has just canceled the proposed Divine Strake experiment, which would have involved a large-scale, open air “mushroom cloud” detonation of a common blasting agent over an existing tunnel at the Nevada Test Site, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The announcement itself last spring of the proposed test raised a robust cloud of protest and a lawsuit. In a Feb. 22 statement, DTRA chief James Tegnelia said, “I have become convinced that it’s time to look at alternative methods that obviate the need for this type large-scale test,” which was to provide data on defeating hardened underground targets. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in a statement that Utah citizens “can rest easier tonight knowing the government listened.”
House and Senate lawmakers say they’re hopeful Congress will pass a defense appropriations bill in the coming weeks to avoid a repeat of last fall’s government shutdown, with only having a handful of working days remaining before the Jan. 30 deadline. Yet legislations still have to release a compromise version of defense spending legislation, which will have to…
