Hot Dry Rock CollectionMain MenuHot Dry Rock OverviewPreliminary Study of the Nuclear SubterreneA Method of Extracting Heat from Dry Geothermal ReservoirsFenton Hill, New MexicoCandidate Sites for Future Hot Dry Rock Development in the United StatesHot Dry Rock: A Realistic Energy OptionMining the Earth’s Heat: Hot Dry Rock Geothermal EnergyCreditsJoshua Finnell57ae41618b76550ccf46776d4829c462ae03ca90Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library
Manmade geothermal systems, or the dry rock geothermal (HDR), concept evolved in an interesting, although circuitous way. R. M. Potter, who was involved in the nuclear rocket program at Los Alamos, developed with others in 1960 the concept of a rock-melting drill which employed a heated refractory metal bit. He thought of the original concept while reading Edgar Rice Burrough's At the Earth's Core. - LA-UR-81-0579