The project examined a number of sites in the American West, including California, New Mexico, and Idaho.
The site had already been chosen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a dam, to be constructed by conventional means, and had been investigated for that purpose.
[4] However, in 1968 the Nuclear Cratering Group's director advised the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, which had oversight of all Project Plowshare projects, that in order to assure that seismic effects would not affect populated areas, a series of three seismic tests would be needed, using conventional explosives.
The concerns about seismic effects, combined with worries about radiological issues close to populated areas, led to the cancellation of nuclear excavation plans for the Buchanan site.
By the time the Buchanan Dam site had been rejected, the Cochiti project was already underway using conventional techniques.
The project was planned to create a reservoir for water quality control, irrigation and power production, employing a 470-foot (140 m) high embankment dam that would require about 7,000,000 cubic yards (5,400,000 m3) of rock fill.
[8][2] Seismic studies raised concerns about effects on the nearby Arrowrock Dam, located downstream to the southwest.
The Catherine Creek site was proposed for nuclear quarrying in late 1968, just after the Twin Springs location was abandoned.