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6:50 PM
zimbio
The Russians have previously used nuclear bombs on five separate gas wells.
A targeted nuclear explosion may similarly help seal off the oil well channel according to a translation of the account in the daily newspaper Komsomoloskaya Pravda by Julia Ioffe of the news website True/Slant.
A first test in the fall of 1966 proved successful in sealing up an underground gas well in southern Uzbekistan.
"The second 'success' gave Soviet scientists great confidence in the use of this new technique for rapidly and effectively controlling run away gas and oil wells," according to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report on the Soviet Union's peaceful uses of nuclear explosions.
A last attempt took place in 1981, but failed perhaps because of poor positioning, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report.
Komsomoloskaya Pravda suggested that the United States might as well take a chance with a nuke, based on the historical 20-percent failure rate.
Still, the Soviet experience with nuking underground gas wells could prove easier in retrospect than trying to seal the Gulf of Mexico’s oil well disaster that's taking place 5,000 feet below the surface.
The Russians would use a nuke to extinguish gas well fires in natural gas fields, not sealing oil wells gushing liquid, so there are big differences, and this method has never been tested in such conditions.
Besides the possibility of failure, there are always risks when dealing with radiation, though material from the DOE report suggests these are minimal since the radiation would be far underground.
BP has yet to comment. I hope they arent considering this method. Who knows what BP might consider.
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