Slashdot Mirror
Oil Leak Could Be Stopped With a Nuke
An anonymous reader writes "The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be stopped with an underground nuclear blast, a Russian newspaper reports. 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.' It's so simple, in fact, that the Soviet Union used this method five times to deal with petrocalamities, and it only didn't work once."
I don't think we have any orbital nukes. We would have to nuke it from orbit, as it's the only way to be sure.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
What problems can't a nuclear explosion solve?
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
...it's that any and all natural disasters can be stopped by the liberal use of nuclear weapons.
I'm trying to figure out which part of this story is the scariest.
... that someone has suggested setting off an underground nuke to close an oil well?
... finding out that the Soviets did this all the time?
... finding out that the USSR was so careless they had six "petrocalamities" worth trying this trick on?
... finding out that there's an actual word for an oil accident of this size?
Duct tape can solve almost anything. I think they need to look into this a bit ... plus its very inexpensive
Back in the late eighties, when the world was turned upside down by the fall of the iron curtain. my friends and I speculated that the fact that Reagan had survived assassination* had torn a hole in reality, thrusting us into a Bizarro Universe.
Now we have Russians suggesting something that only would make sense in a really bad TV movie or potboiler eco-disaster novel.
Like the man uptopic says, what could possibly go wrong?
We're there, man.
Stefan
* Schoolyard mythology: presidents elected in years ending in 0 always died in office.
The Gulf of Mexican? Honestly? I mean come on...
a handful of selfish greedy people are no match for millions of selfish, greedy people -u4ya
As a pyromaniac extraordinaire I fully endorse this under one condition:
That a TON of high speed camera footage is available at no charge to me later. Outside of that I'm sold.
We should start a new Slashdot and return control to the geeks. It actually wouldn't be that hard to get some users to
So in the US, controlled underground nuclear blasts would be plugged with oil leaks?
What was their alternative?
Well, they were about to try the concrete dome aproach, but the germans refused to get under it. Aparently the cheese piece wasn't big enough or something.
This is just an excuse to Nuke the Whales.
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
That's what first comes to your mind when you hear about nuclear explosions on the bottom of the ocean? Waves?
What about wakin' the motherfuckin' Cthulhu man? YEAH!
I guess you feel really silly right about now.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Agh!
you know nothing of trapping a German..
Sauerbraten, a huge glass of Weizenbock, and a Kuchen.
Even Diter would be tempted....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
... and Greece stopped them with only 300 men.
Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
Even the Greek army? I think not.