Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment.
Project Bacchus operated from 1999-2000 to investigate whether would-be terrorists could build an anthrax production facility and remain undetected.[1] During the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and successfully produced an anthrax-like bacterium.[2] The participating scientists were able to make about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of highly refined bacterial particles.[2]
The secret Project Bacchus was disclosed in a September 2001 article in The New York Times.[1] Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated on the article.[1] Shortly after it appeared, they published a book containing further details.[1] The book, Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, and the article are the only publicly available sources[citation needed] concerning Project Bacchus and its sister projects, Clear Vision and Jefferson.[1]
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