Nuke the oil leak?... It worked for the Soviets!

As BP prepares to lower a four-story, 70-ton dome over the oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico, the Russians — the world’s biggest oil producers — have some advice for their American counterparts: nuke it.

Komsomoloskaya Pravda, the best-selling Russian daily, reports that in Soviet times such leaks were plugged with controlled nuclear blasts underground. The idea is simple, KP writes: “the underground explosion moves the rock, presses on it, and, in essence, squeezes the well’s channel.”

Nuke that slick

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ba27ed9e4018.jpg[/atsimg]

I'm not going to lie, just the idea of nuking a huge oil leak makes me shiver, but appearantly it worked before. With that said, what would have a worse ecological impact? A continued spill or an underwater nuke?

Yes! It’s so simple, in fact, that the Soviet Union, a major oil exporter, used this method five times to deal with petrocalamities. The first happened in Uzbekistan, on September 30, 1966 with a blast 1.5 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb and at a depth of 1.5 kilometers. KP also notes that subterranean nuclear blasts were used as much as 169 times in the Soviet Union to accomplish fairly mundane tasks like creating underground storage spaces for gas or building canals.

So what do you think ATS, Nuke it or not??

-E-

[edit on 4-5-2010 by MysterE]

I agree, they need to nuke it.

It's the only way.

reply to post by downtown436


It kind of seems like if nuking is the way to go it should have been done days ago. I don' think the dome will work.

-E-

NUKES: The answer to everything!

Problem though?
If they nuke it will it cause a collapse on the sea floor triggering an earthquake or tsunami?
I think using a nuke would .......well............Make the situation worse?

Originally posted by MysterE
reply to post by downtown436

 

It kind of seems like if nuking is the way to go it should have been done days ago. I don' think the dome will work.

-E-

They should have done it on Earth Day.

They could have saved the gulf of Mexico.

Now it is too late. The damage is getting worse by the second. They could still nuke it though. It needs to be done.

I heard that Iran offered to help with this.

Maybe they could test one of their new nukes on it, Dinnerjacket will shed his beard with happiness lol

He may even get a few back then???

If they think that using a Nuke would solve a situation like this then they must have got their qualifications off the back of a cereal packet?
Surely this is a dream and im not even typing this reply. Im horrified.

Using Nukes, in my own personal opinion is just way off.
What about the consequences?
Sea floor collapse? (how big is that oil field)
Triggering an Earthquake?
Tsunami?
Oh one more thing all the talk about the effected SEA LIFE and other CREATURES!!!
This is ridiculous.
It could go so so wrong here.

reply to post by jazz10


I'm just pointing out that a nuke has successfully been used to stop an underwater oil leak before. And I haven't heard about any seafloor collapse. What if the dome doesn't work? Do you just let the leak continue?

-E-

[edit on 4-5-2010 by MysterE]

I have a feeling that nuking of the oil spill will somehow open up Atlantis...feels like it.

I have reservations on using a nuke
for this.

If it doesn't work on the spill
we have just opened up a hole
in the earth that we won't be able to close.

If there is such a thing as empty spaces
in the earth's core, and we nuke a hole in it.
Then our oceans run into the void and destabilize
the earth. So many things could go wrong here.
I don't think it's worth the risk
but I'm no expert

And why the hell would they want to end something that distracts people?

two lines

reply to post by MysterE


i was just talking about this with a neighbor. haha

1) we're american

2) we have plenty of nukes

3) we need to save money

It may have worked for the Russians but heres a question for you all.

Would a Chain reaction type of event happen using a nuke that will be a catalyst to blowing other rigs in the gulf?
How many rigs are in the gulf?
How close are they to each other?
Would the shock wave of using a Nuke displace or even effect other rigs in the vicinity, causing further spills?

THIS IS NOT HAPPENING SURELY????

Ive already mentioned all the rest in earlier reply?

Am i right that theres 3000?

If I thought it would work, I'd be all in favor of it, but my biggest fear is that it'll just open up a much larger hole that can't be plugged. If it did work, however, it would be well worth it, as the radiation from a single nuclear weapon on the ecosystem would be miniscule compared to a weeks/months long oil flow. Still, I'd rather exhaust all other options before trying that one.

Well seriously it could work. Do we even need to use a nuke?

Surely a MOAB could collapse the hole. We have plenty of bunker buster high payload type of conventional weapons these days that could be used for such a thing.



[edit on 4-5-2010 by belial259]

Originally posted by vor78
rather exhaust all other options before trying that one.

I completely agree, I just worry that it will take too long. Every day this disaster gets worse, and it seems very little is getting done to resolve it.

-E-

God I hope they go for the Nuke option and show it live on Fox / CNN.

That would work thinking about it and would be so cool to watch.

I don't want to die of old age and not see something half decent like this!

reply to post by MysterE


I'm not even sure it would work. To my knowledge, no one has ever tested a nuclear weapon at that depth (I'm pretty sure the underwater tests were all fairly shallow water blasts; someone correct me if I'm wrong). Certainly, a nuclear reaction is possible at that depth, but would the weapon itself survive the pressures to reach that depth? Its extremely doubtful, and it would probably require engineering a solution to that particular problem and then building a new weapon, a process that itself could take weeks or months.

[edit on 4-5-2010 by vor78]

reply to post by vor78


Check out the article in the OP, It has been done before! Like 4 times seccessfully (i think) by the Soviets.

-E-