Nuking the oil Well goes Mainstream (KVUE: news video) WOW

[Large Sarge]

http://www.kvue.com/news/JIM-BERGAMO--KVUE--94792529.html

[Large Sarge]

by JIM BERGAMO / KVUE News

kvue.com

Posted on May 24, 2010 at 9:31 PM

Updated yesterday at 10:19 PM


Using a nuclear explosion to contain an oil spill may sound startlingly reckless to many, but the idea may not be that outlandish. One oil-price website reports Russia has used the technique on numerous occasions with a high success rate, and an Austin expert says BP should be strongly considering that option right now.

The latest effort to stop the flow of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico involves pumping mud and oil into the well. "This is very difficult to do at 16 thousand feet," said Martin Chenevert, PhD. This UT professor specializes in petroleum engineering. He says BP should have a back-up plan and believes there are only two alternatives. "They could still use a chemical explosive, but if they can't, if they can't do that, then the only way is to use some sort of nuclear explosive to close the well in," said Chenevert.

The use of nukes underwater has been met with the expected skepticism.

All I can think of is the 3-eyed fish on the Simpson's series," said Patrick Abbott of Austin. That sentiment was echoed by D.K. Ezekoye of Austin who said, "Yeah I think about the marine life, I think about the fact somebody tosses a stick of dynamite and you see the fish start bubbling up."

But Dr. Chenevert and articles like one posted on oilprice.net say the idea of nuking an out of control oil well has been used rather successfully in Russia and may be more ecologically friendly than the other alternative, chemical explosives which would require extensive digging around the well.

"It may take 60 days to 90 days to enlarge the hole so there's more time involved, there would more leakage to the ocean floor," said Dr. Chenevert.

A nuclear devise would be dropped deep down the existing well and covered with rock and cement. "Rock serves as the barrier if the well is contained with a nuclear explosive. If you are 16-thousand feet down and you have all this rock on top of you it would be very unlikely that you would have the radiation escaping," said Chenevert.

[cigarlover]

I like the idea but how do you drop a nuke into a high pressure oil well?

[Hatha Sunahara]

I'm amazed that it's gone mainstream so fast. I posted the nuking idea 10 days ago here:

http://gold-silver.us/forum/general-discussion/nuke-that-oil-slick/

Now let's see--in 10 days at 5000 barrels a day, we have a lot of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama will probably form a committee to investigate this idea, and they will come up with a recommendation no earlier than Labor Day.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Obama diddles while the gulf gets oiled.

I would think that our nuclear weapons people could lower a 150kt thermonuclear bomb and detonate it in a matter of hours if they were given a green light. But once again, it's a political decision. I don't doubt that most people would conclude that a nuke is the lesser of the two evils.

Hatha

[Large Sarge]

I like the idea but how do you drop a nuke into a high pressure oil well?


I do not know how, but the guy in the video said "the russians have done it numerous times"

now whether they tried it starting from a mile below the surface is questionable??


is a drill hole the same circumference from top to bottom??

[DMac]

I like the idea but how do you drop a nuke into a high pressure oil well?


I do not know how, but the guy in the video said "the russians have done it numerous times"

now whether they tried it starting from a mile below the surface is questionable??


is a drill hole the same circumference from top to bottom??





From what I've read today Russia has done this 4 times in the past. The only caveat is that there have been no nuke attempts to shutter a well this deep undersea.

[Cebu_4_2]

is a drill hole the same circumference from top to bottom??


No, it tapers for each drill casing as it goes deeper, they cement each connection to seal it. I read some reports it takes a day and others that say 2 weeks for it to fully harden. I don't think they would try to force a nuke down the volcano but drill close to and the idea of a nuke isn't to break up the rock and let it settle but to melt the rock into glass hopefully stopping it. Busting up the rock would lead to a blowout of magnitude you wouldn't even fathom, not to mention that it would most likely uncap hundreds of other wells capped in the same vein.

[Quantum]

I like the idea but how do you drop a nuke into a high pressure oil well?


You drill a shaft a few yards away, and insert the device about 500 feet down.

[k-os]

I have a bad feeling about the large natural gas resource which is in the same location as this well head, and that it might be a problem with the nuke solution.

Has this been discussed, or is it a non-issue for some reason that I don't yet understand?

<== obviously not an expert.

[Large Sarge]

I have a bad feeling about the large natural gas resource which is in the same location as this well head, and that it be a problem with the nuke solution.

Has this been discussed, or is it a non-issue for some reason that I don't yet understand?

<== obviously not an expert.


the well is 30,000+ feet deep (the pipeline)

the guy on the video, wants to do it at 16,000 feet

so no radiation escapes

and I do not think it could detonate the gas, which is a further 15,000 feet below