Misplaced Pages

#483516

94-517: In the U.S., a series of tests were carried out under Project Plowshare . Some of the ideas considered included blasting a new Panama Canal , constructing the proposed Nicaragua Canal , the use of underground explosions to create electricity ( Project PACER ), and a variety of mining, geological, and radionuclide studies. The largest of the excavation tests was carried out in the Sedan nuclear test in 1962, which released large amounts of radioactive gas into

188-422: A nuclear explosive . However, this approach was abandoned for a number of technical reasons. The first Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) blast was Project Gnome , conducted on December 10, 1961, in a salt bed 24 mi (39 km) southeast of Carlsbad , in southeast New Mexico . The explosion released 3.1 kilotons (13 TJ) of energy yield at a depth of 1,184 ft (361 m) which resulted in

282-442: A stand-off proximity orientation with the asteroid, with the latter method occurring far enough away from the incoming threat to prevent the potential fracturing of the near-Earth object , but still close enough to generate a high thrust laser ablation effect. A 2007 NASA analysis of impact avoidance strategies using various technologies stated: Nuclear stand-off explosions are assessed to be 10–100 times more effective than

376-460: A 104-kiloton detonation at Yucca Flat, Nevada, displaced 12 million tons of soil and resulted in a radioactive dust cloud that rose 12,000 feet [3,700 m] and plumed toward the Mississippi River. Other consequences – blighted land, relocated communities, tritium-contaminated water, radioactivity, and fallout from debris being hurled high into the atmosphere – were ignored and downplayed until

470-581: A canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Qattara Depression in the Western Desert of Egypt using nuclear demolition. This project proposed to use 213 devices, with yields of 1 to 1.5 megatons, detonated at depths of 100 to 500 m (330 to 1,640 ft) to build this canal for the purpose of producing hydroelectric power. The Smiling Buddha , India 's first explosive nuclear device,

564-602: A channel/trench in Area 30 and the largest being 104 kiloton (435 terajoule ) on July 6, 1962, at the north end of Yucca Flats , within the Atomic Energy Commission 's Nevada Test Site (NTS) in southern Nevada. The shot, " Sedan ", displaced more than 12 million short tons (11,000 million kilograms) of soil and resulted in a radioactive cloud that rose to an altitude of 12,000 ft (3.7 km). The radioactive dust plume headed northeast and then east towards

658-736: A climate of world opinion that is more favorable to weapons development and tests". These tests were to demonstrate that atomic bombs can be used for peaceful purposes, that the atomic sword could be beaten into a plowshare. Proposed uses for nuclear explosives under Project Plowshare included widening the Panama Canal , constructing a new sea-level waterway through Nicaragua nicknamed the Pan-Atomic Canal, cutting paths through mountainous areas for highways, and connecting inland river systems. Other proposals involved blasting caverns for water, natural gas, and petroleum storage. Serious consideration

752-509: A component of a ballistic missile defense shield known as Project Excalibur . This created dozens of highly focused X-ray beams that would cause the missile to break up due to laser ablation . Laser ablation is one of the damage mechanisms of a laser weapon , but it is also one of the researched methods behind pulsed laser propulsion intended for spacecraft, though usually powered by means of conventionally pumped, laser arrays. For example, ground flight testing by Professor Leik Myrabo, using

846-611: A correspondingly smaller basin. Although the detonation never occurred, the site was radioactively contaminated by an experiment to estimate the effect on water sources of radioactive ejecta, landing on tundra plants, and subsequently washed down and carried away by rains. Material from a 1962 nuclear explosion at the Nevada Test Site was transported to the Chariot site in August 1962, used in several experiments, then buried. The site comprised

940-481: A few months later a 47 kilotons explosive was used to seal a higher-pressure blowout at the nearby Pamuk gas field. (For more details, see Blowout (well drilling)#Use of nuclear explosions .) Devices that produced the highest proportion of their yield via fusion-only reactions are possibly the Taiga Soviet peaceful nuclear explosions of the 1970s. Their public records indicate 98% of their 15 kiloton explosive yield

1034-576: A fitting overture to the new era which is opening for our state." Opposition came from the Inupiaq Alaska Native village of Point Hope , a few scientists engaged in environmental studies under AEC contract, and a handful of conservationists. The grassroots protest soon was picked up by organizations with national reach, such as The Wilderness Society , the Sierra Club , and Barry Commoner 's Committee for Nuclear Information. Repeated visits to

SECTION 10

#1732851390484

1128-566: A harbor was ever identified. The environmental studies commissioned by the AEC suggested that radioactive contamination from the proposed blast could adversely affect the health and safety of the local people, whose livelihoods were based on hunting animals. The investigations noted that radiation from worldwide fallout was moving with unusual efficiency up the food chain in the Arctic, from lichen , to caribou (which fed on lichen), to humans (for whom caribou

1222-442: A level of 2% of the then-maximum level for drinking water) and the deposition of fallout from radioactive material being injected into the atmosphere before underground testing was mandated by treaty . By exploiting the peaceful uses of the "friendly atom" in medical applications, earth removal, and later in nuclear power plants, the nuclear industry and government sought to allay public fears about nuclear technology and promote

1316-508: A mound of about 400 square feet (37 m ), about 4 feet (120 cm) tall. Thirty years later, the disposal was discovered in archival documents by a University of Alaska researcher. State officials immediately traveled to the site and found low levels of radioactivity at a depth of two feet (60 cm) in the burial mound. Outraged residents of the Inupiat village of Point Hope, who had experienced an unusually high rate of cancer deaths, demanded

1410-408: A non-nuclear, conventionally powered pulsed laser test-bed , successfully lifted a lightcraft 72 meters in altitude by a method similar to ablative laser propulsion in 2000. A powerful solar system based soft X-ray, to ultraviolet , laser system has been calculated to be capable of propelling an interstellar spacecraft, by the light sail principle, to 11% of the speed of light . In 1972 it

1504-407: A nuclear explosion used for peaceful purposes, including provisions for use of the hydrodynamic yield measurement method, seismic monitoring, and on-site inspection. The agreed statement that accompanies the treaty specifies that a "peaceful application" of an underground nuclear explosion would not include the developmental testing of any nuclear explosive. Operation Plowshare was the name of

1598-467: A process analogous to fracking , the flow of petroleum and natural gas in tight formations ; this was developed most in the Soviet Union, with an increase in the production of many well heads being reported. In 2015, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk popularized an approach in which the cold planet Mars could be terraformed by the detonation of high-fusion-yielding thermonuclear devices over

1692-584: A program to use nuclear explosives for industrial development projects. This proposal became the basis for Project Plowshare , administered by the United States Atomic Energy Commission . Chariot was to be the first Plowshare project, and was imagined as a way to show how larger projects, such as a widened Panama Canal , or a sea-level Nicaragua Canal , might be accomplished. The plan was championed by LRL director and nuclear scientist Edward Teller , who traveled throughout Alaska touting

1786-611: A remote location. Alaskan political leaders, newspaper editors, president William Ransom Wood of the University of Alaska , even church groups all rallied in support of the massive detonation. Congress had passed the Alaska Statehood Act just a few weeks before. An editorial in the July 24, 1960 Fairbanks News-Miner said, "We think the holding of a huge nuclear blast in Alaska would be

1880-432: A result of a meteor impact and not from a volcanic eruption , as had earlier been assumed. This became the first crater on Earth definitely proven to be from an impact event. Negative impacts from Project Plowshare's tests generated significant public opposition, which eventually led to the program's termination in 1977. These consequences included tritiated water (projected to increase by CER Geonuclear Corporation to

1974-578: A second Panama Canal , as well as an alternative to the Suez Canal . The largest excavation experiment took place in 1962 at the Department of Energy 's Nevada Test Site . The Sedan nuclear test carried out as part of Operation Storax displaced 12 million tons of earth, creating the largest man-made crater in the world, generating a large nuclear fallout over Nevada and Utah . Three tests were conducted in order to stimulate natural gas production , but

SECTION 20

#1732851390484

2068-453: A steam heated mandrel to melt to its center, an extremely hazardous process. A number of projects were proposed and some planning accomplished, but were not followed through on. A list of these is given here: Project Chariot Project Chariot was a 1958 United States Atomic Energy Commission proposal to construct an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson on the North Slope of

2162-466: A variety of agreements. Most notable among these is the 1976 Treaty on Underground Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes (PNE Treaty). The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of 1996 prohibits all nuclear explosions, regardless of whether they are for peaceful purposes or not. Since that time the topic has been raised several times, often as a method of asteroid impact avoidance . In the PNE Treaty,

2256-550: A way of circumventing the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty , at the time in negotiation. In 1962, facing increased public uneasiness over the environmental risk and the potential to disrupt the lives of the Alaska Native peoples, the AEC announced that Project Chariot would be "held in abeyance." It has never been formally canceled. In addition to the objections of the local population, no practical use of such

2350-468: Is more favorable to weapons development and tests". The Operation Plowshare program included 27 nuclear tests designed towards investigating these non-weapon uses from 1961 through 1973. Due to the inability of the U.S. physicists to reduce the fission fraction of low-yield (approximately 1 kiloton) nuclear devices that would have been required for many civil engineering projects, when long-term health and clean-up costs from fission products were included in

2444-560: The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The parties reserve the right to carry out nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes in the territory of another country if requested to do so, but only in full compliance with the yield limitations and other provisions of the PNE Treaty and in accord with the Non-Proliferation Treaty . Articles IV and V of the PNE Treaty set forth the agreed verification arrangements. In addition to

2538-653: The Mississippi River . Over the next 11 years, 26 more nuclear explosion tests were conducted under the United States PNE program. The radioactive blast debris from 839 U.S. underground nuclear test explosions remain buried in-place and have been judged impractical to remove by the DOE's Nevada Site Office. Funding quietly ended in 1997, and costs for the program have been estimated at more than (US) $ 770 million. Three nuclear explosion experiments were intended to stimulate

2632-559: The Mojave Desert , to accommodate construction of Interstate 40 and a new rail line. A project proposed in a 1963 memorandum by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory would have used 520 2-megaton nuclear explosions to excavate a canal through the Negev Desert in Israel at an estimated cost of $ 575 million ($ 5 billion in 2021), to serve as an alternative route to the Suez Canal . At

2726-460: The Qattara Depression in Egypt, an area that lies below sea level. The core problem of the entire project was the water supply to the depression. Calculations by Bassler showed that digging a canal or tunnel would be too expensive, therefore Bassler determined that the use of nuclear explosive devices, to excavate the canal or tunnel, would be the most economical. The Egyptian government declined to pursue

2820-516: The Taiga test's three 15- kiloton explosive yield devices, that is, a total fission fraction of 0.3 kilotons in a 15 kt device. In comparison, the next three high fusion-yielding devices were all much too high in total explosive yield for oil and gas stimulation: the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba achieved a yield 97% derived from fusion, while in the US, the 9.3-megaton Hardtack Poplar test is reported as 95.2%, and

2914-515: The U.S. state of Alaska by burying and detonating a string of nuclear devices . The project originated as part of Operation Plowshare , a research project to find peaceful uses for nuclear explosives . Substantial local opposition, objections from environmental scientists, and the absence of any credible economic benefit caused the plan to be quietly shelved. A 1957 meeting at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (LRL) proposed

Peaceful nuclear explosion - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-457: The 4.5-megaton Redwing Navajo test as 95% derived from fusion. The U.S. conducted 27 PNE shots in conjunction with other, weapons-related, test series. A report by the Federation of American Scientists includes yields slightly different from those presented below. In addition to the nuclear tests, Plowshare executed a number of non-nuclear test projects in an attempt to learn more about how

3102-516: The National Economy . The initial program was patterned on the U.S. version, with the same basic concepts being studied. One test, Chagan test in January 1965, has been described as a "near clone" of the U.S. Sedan shot. Like Sedan, Chagan also resulted in a massive plume of radioactive material being blown high into the atmosphere, with an estimated 20% of the fission products with it. Detection of

3196-475: The U.S. program for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful purposes. The name was coined in 1961, taken from Micah 4:3 ("And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares , and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more"). Twenty-eight nuclear blasts were detonated between 1961 and 1973. One of

3290-569: The acceptance of nuclear weapons . At the peak of the Atomic Age , the United States Federal government initiated Project Plowshare, involving "peaceful nuclear explosions". The United States Atomic Energy Commission chairman at the time, Lewis Strauss , announced that the Plowshares project was intended to "highlight the peaceful applications of nuclear explosive devices and thereby create

3384-432: The air. By the late 1960s, public opposition to Plowshare was increasing, and a 1970s study of the economics of the concepts suggested they had no practical use. Plowshare saw decreasing interest from the 1960s, and was officially cancelled in 1977. The Soviet program started a few years after the U.S. efforts and explored many of the same concepts under their Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program. The program

3478-400: The aluminum sphere located 18 metres (60 ft) from the detonation point, with slightly over 25 millimetres (1 in) of surface material absent upon recovery. These spheres are often referred to as " Lew Allen 's balls", after the project manager during the experiments. The ablation data collected for various materials and the distances the spheres were propelled, serve as the bedrock for

3572-580: The atmosphere by following the movements of fallout aerosols . After the Van Allen Belts surrounding Earth were discovered about in 1958, James Van Allen suggested that a nuclear detonation would be one way of probing the magnetic phenomenon. Data obtained from the August 1958 Project Argus test shots, a high-altitude nuclear explosion investigation, were vital to the early understanding of Earth's magnetosphere . Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel peace prize recipient Andrei Sakharov also proposed

3666-525: The atmosphere. These were ignored and downplayed until the program was terminated in 1977, due in large part to public opposition, after $ 770 million had been spent on the project. The Soviet Union conducted a much more vigorous program of 239 nuclear tests, some with multiple devices, between 1965 and 1988 under the auspices of Program No. 6—Employment of Nuclear Explosive Technologies in the Interests of National Economy and Program No. 7— Nuclear Explosions for

3760-508: The coal waiting to be shipped. As the plan developed, nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site indicated that smaller explosions could accomplish much to the publicly-stated goals of the project with less risk of radioactive releases or contamination. At the same time, as it became apparent that there could be little economic justification for the project, the program shifted to a more clearly avowed program for testing nuclear excavation in

3854-565: The community by AEC officials failed to sway local and Native residents, who opposed land transfers by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the AEC. Activism opposing the project contributed to Native organization and Native rights activism, which contributed to the establishment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Internationally, the project drew objections from the Soviet Union, which viewed such projects as

Peaceful nuclear explosion - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-478: The comparatively low yield explosion created by the water prospecting (LCROSS) Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, which launched in 2009 and released the "Centaur" kinetic energy impactor, an impactor with a mass of 2,305 kg (5,081 lb), and an impact velocity of about 9,000 km/h (5,600 mph), releasing the kinetic energy equivalent of detonating approximately 2 tons of TNT (8.86 GJ ). The first preliminary examination of

4042-485: The composition of Earth's mantle , analogous to the exploration geophysics practice of mineral prospecting with chemical explosives in " deep seismic sounding " reflection seismology . Project A119 , proposed in the 1960s, which as Apollo scientist Gary Latham explained, would have been the detonating of a "smallish" nuclear device on the Moon in order to facilitate research into its geologic make-up. Analogous in concept to

4136-460: The copper coil in his MK generators by a big superconductor solenoid to magnetically compress and focus underground nuclear explosions into a shaped charge effect. He theorized this could focus 10 positively charged protons per second on a 1 mm surface, then envisaged making two such beams collide in the form of a supercollider . Underground nuclear explosive data from peaceful nuclear explosion test shots have been used to investigate

4230-475: The cost, there was virtually no economic advantage over conventional explosives except for potentially the very largest projects. The Qattara Depression Project was developed by Professor Friedrich Bassler during his appointment to the West German ministry of economics in 1968. He put forth a plan to create a Saharan lake and hydroelectric power station by blasting a tunnel between the Mediterranean Sea and

4324-445: The earliest known human painting.) Both climatology and particularly aerosol science, a subfield of atmospheric science , were largely created to answer the question of how far and wide fallout would travel. Similar to radioactive tracers used in hydrology and materials testing, fallout and the neutron activation of nitrogen gas served as a radioactive tracer that was used to measure and then help model global circulations in

4418-415: The effects of nuclear detonations upon various metal and non-metal materials, occurred in 1955 with Operation Teapot , were a chain of approximately basketball sized spheres of material, were arrayed at fixed aerial distances, descending from the shot tower. In what was then a surprising experimental observation, all but the spheres directly within the shot tower survived, with the greatest ablation noted on

4512-586: The effort was abandoned as impractical because of cost and radioactive contamination of the gas. There were many negative impacts from Project Plowshare's 27 nuclear explosions. For example, the Project Gasbuggy site, located 89 kilometres (55 mi) east of Farmington , New Mexico, still contains nuclear contamination from a single subsurface blast in 1967. Other consequences included blighted land, relocated communities, tritium -contaminated water, radioactivity, and fallout from debris being hurled high into

4606-412: The end of the program, a major objective was to develop nuclear explosives, and blast techniques, for stimulating the flow of natural gas in "tight" underground reservoir formations. In the 1960s, a proposal was suggested for a modified in situ shale oil extraction process which involved creation of a rubble chimney (a zone in the oil shale formation created by breaking the rock into fragments) using

4700-449: The first U.S. proposals for peaceful nuclear explosions that came close to being carried out was Project Chariot , which would have used several hydrogen bombs to create an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson , Alaska. It was never carried out due to concerns for the native populations and the fact that there was little potential use for the harbor to justify its risk and expense. There was also talk of using nuclear explosions to excavate

4794-786: The flow of natural gas from "tight" formation gas fields. Industrial participants included El Paso Natural Gas Company for the Gasbuggy test near Farmington, New Mexico ; CER Geonuclear Corporation and Austral Oil Company for the Rulison test; and CER Geonuclear Corporation for the Rio Blanco test. The final PNE blast took place on May 17, 1973, under Fawn Creek, 47.5 mi (76.4 km) north of Grand Junction, Colorado . Three 30-kiloton detonations took place simultaneously at depths of 5,768, 6,152 and 6,611 ft (1,758, 1,875 and 2,015 m). If it had been successful, plans called for

SECTION 50

#1732851390484

4888-552: The following years. As a point of comparison, the most successful and profitable nuclear stimulation effort that did not result in customer product contamination issues was the 1976 Project Neva on the Sredne-Botuobinsk gas field in the Soviet Union , made possible by multiple cleaner stimulation explosives, favorable rock strata and the possible creation of an underground contaminant storage cavity. The Soviet Union retains

4982-447: The formation of a 170 ft (52 m) diameter, 80 ft (24 m) high cavity. The test had many objectives, the most public of which involved the generation of steam which could then be used to generate electricity. Another objective was the production of useful radioisotopes and their recovery. Yet another experiment involved neutron time-of-flight physics , and a fourth experiment involved geophysical studies based upon

5076-516: The harbor as an important economic development for America's newest state. Teller promoted a study by the LRL that proposed development of coal deposits in the area. Despite being blocked by ice for nine months of the year, Teller and the LRL proposed the harbor as a port for coal shipment. The mines themselves would have been on the far side of the Brooks Range , requiring a railroad and storage facilities for

5170-542: The idea that earthquakes could be mitigated and particle accelerators could be made by utilizing nuclear explosions, with the latter created by connecting a nuclear explosive device with another of his inventions, the explosively pumped flux compression generator , to accelerate protons to collide with each other to probe their inner workings, an endeavor that is now done at much lower energy levels with non-explosive superconducting magnets in CERN . Sakharov suggested to replace

5264-547: The idea. The Soviet Union conducted a much more exhaustive program than Plowshare, with 239 nuclear tests between 1965 and 1988. Furthermore, many of the "tests" were considered economic applications, not tests, in the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program. These included a 30 kilotons explosion being used to close the Uzbekistani Urtabulak gas well in 1966 that had been blowing since 1963, and

5358-470: The main problem with oil and gas stimulation, which many considered the most promising economic use of nuclear detonations, was that the produced oil and gas was radioactive, which caused consumers to reject it and this was ultimately the program's downfall. Oil and gas are sometimes naturally radioactive to begin with, however, and the industry is set up to deal with oil and gas that contain radioactive contaminants. Historian Dr. Michael Payne notes that it

5452-609: The meantime, test shots in Nevada provided the data that the AEC sought for radiation release modeling. The very small 430-ton equivalent Danny Boy test in March 1962 encouraged the AEC to stage much larger 104-kiloton Sedan test in July 1962. Gerald Johnson , the director of Project Plowshare, described the Sedan test as "an alternative to Chariot" arising from frustration at recommendations for Chariot's cancellation. Fallout from Sedan turned out to be

5546-414: The mostly dry-ice icecaps on the planet. Musk's specific plan would not be very feasible within the energy limitations of historically manufactured nuclear devices (ranging in kilotons of TNT-equivalent), therefore requiring major advancement for it to be considered. In part due to these problems, the physicist Michio Kaku (who initially put forward the concept) instead suggests using nuclear reactors in

5640-503: The mysteries of the R-process of stellar nucleosynthesis and probing the composition of the Earth's deep crust , creating reflection seismology vibroseis data which has helped geologists and follow-on mining company prospecting . The project's uncharacteristically large and atmospherically vented Sedan nuclear test also led geologists to determine that Barringer crater was formed as

5734-400: The necessary quantities to allow study of their properties, was carried out in nuclear explosive device testing. For example, the discovery of the short-lived einsteinium and fermium , both created under the intense neutron flux environment within thermonuclear explosions, followed the first Teller–Ulam thermonuclear device test— Ivy Mike . The rapid capture of so many neutrons required in

SECTION 60

#1732851390484

5828-488: The next three decades, but a resurgence in Colorado Western slope natural gas drilling has brought resource development closer and closer to the original underground detonations. By mid-2009, 84 drilling permits had been issued within a 3-mile (4.8 km) radius, with 11 permits within one mi (1.6 km) mile of the site. Operation Plowshare "started with great expectations and high hopes". Planners believed that

5922-491: The non-nuclear alternatives analyzed in this study. Other techniques involving the surface or subsurface use of nuclear explosives may be more efficient, but they run an increased risk of fracturing the target near-Earth object. They also carry higher development and operations risks. Project Plowshare Project Plowshare was the overall United States program for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. The program

6016-458: The nuclear explosives could best be used. Several of these projects led to practical utility as well as to furthering knowledge about large explosives. These projects included: Initially scheduled for July, the shot was delayed due to the accidental use of dummy detonators. As the detonators had to be placed in the center of the charge, organizers were required to dig down to the TNT charge and then use

6110-520: The nuclear gas stimulation technology program. It was estimated that even after 25 years of production of all the natural gas deemed recoverable, only 15 to 40% of the investment would be recouped. Also, the concept that stove burners in California might soon emit trace amounts of blast radionuclides into family homes did not sit well with the general public. The contaminated gas was never channeled into commercial supply lines. The situation remained so for

6204-476: The nuclear pulse propulsion study, Project Orion . The direct use of nuclear explosives, by using the impact of ablated propellant plasma from a nuclear shaped charge acting on the rear pusher plate of a ship, was and continues to be seriously studied as a potential propulsion mechanism. Although likely never achieving orbit due to aerodynamic drag , the first macroscopic object to obtain Earth orbital velocity

6298-539: The plume over Japan led to accusations by the U.S. that the Soviets had carried out an above-ground test in violation of the Partial Test Ban Treaty , but these charges were later dropped. The later, and more extensive, "Deep Seismic Sounding" Program focused on the use of much smaller explosions for various geological uses. Some of these tests are considered to be operational, not purely experimental. These included

6392-476: The program was terminated in 1977, due in large part to public opposition. Project Plowshare shows how something intended to improve national security can unwittingly do the opposite if it fails to fully consider the social, political, and environmental consequences. It also “underscores that public resentment and opposition can stop projects in their tracks”. The social scientist Benjamin Sovacool contends that

6486-406: The projects could be completed safely, but there was less confidence that they could be completed more economically than conventional methods. Moreover, there was insufficient public and Congressional support for the projects. Projects Chariot and Coach were two examples where technical problems and environmental concerns prompted further feasibility studies which took several years, and each project

6580-518: The record for the cleanest/lowest fission-fraction nuclear devices so far demonstrated. The public records for devices that produced the highest proportion of their yield via fusion-only reactions, and therefore created orders of magnitude smaller amounts of long-lived fission products as a result, are the USSR's Peaceful nuclear explosions of the 1970s, with the three detonations that excavated part of Pechora–Kama Canal , being cited as 98% fusion each in

6674-589: The required energy, water vapor, greenhouse gases , and other biologically significant volatiles that could begin to quickly terraform Mars. One such opportunity for this occurred in October 2014 when a "once-in-a-million-years" comet (designated as C/2013 A1 , also known as comet "Siding Spring") came within 140 000  km ( 87 000 miles) of the Martian atmosphere . The discovery and synthesis of new chemical elements by nuclear transmutation , and their production in

6768-548: The second-highest of any test in Nevada. The project initially envisioned the use of four 100 kiloton devices to excavate a channel, and two one-megaton devices to excavate a turning basin, for a total of 2.4 megatons of explosive equivalent, displacing 70,000,000 short tons (64,000,000 t) of earth. Later iterations reduced the explosive total to 480 kilotons, and subsequently proposed a 280 kiloton test or demonstration. The latter plan proposed two or three 20 kiloton explosions and two more of approximately 200 kilotons each, for

6862-542: The signatories agreed: not to carry out any individual nuclear explosions having a yield exceeding 150 kilotons TNT equivalent ; not to carry out any group explosion (consisting of a number of individual explosions) having an aggregate yield exceeding 1,500 kilotons; and not to carry out any group explosion having an aggregate yield exceeding 150 kilotons unless the individual explosions in the group could be identified and measured by agreed verification procedures. The parties also reaffirmed their obligations to comply fully with

6956-520: The stimulation and closing-off of the flow of natural gas . At the peak of the Atomic Age , the United States initiated Operation Plowshare , involving "peaceful nuclear explosions". The United States Atomic Energy Commission chairman announced that the Plowshare project was intended to "highlight the peaceful applications of nuclear explosive devices and thereby create a climate of world opinion that

7050-404: The successful Soviet use of nuclear explosions in extinguishing out-of-control gas well fires were widely cited in United States policy discussions of options for stopping the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill . Germany at one time considered manufacturing nuclear explosives for civil engineering purposes. In the early 1970s a feasibility study was conducted for a project to build

7144-400: The synthesis of einsteinium would provide the needed direct experimental confirmation of the so-called r-process , the multiple neutron absorptions needed to explain the cosmic nucleosynthesis (production) of all chemical elements heavier than nickel on the periodic table in supernova explosions, before beta decay , with the r-process explaining the existence of many stable elements in

7238-414: The term "Project Dubious" to describe Operation Plowshare. There were negative impacts from several of Project Plowshare’s 27 nuclear explosions, primarily those conducted in the project's infancy and those that were very high in explosive yield. On Project Gnome and the Sedan test: Project Gnome vented radioactive steam over the very press gallery that was called to confirm its safety. The next blast,

7332-502: The timed seismic source. Only the last objective was considered a complete success. The blast unintentionally vented radioactive steam while the press watched. The partly developed Project Coach detonation experiment that was to follow adjacent to the Gnome test was then canceled. A number of proof-of-concept cratering blasts were conducted; including the Buggy shot of five 1-kiloton devices for

7426-468: The typical land-based district heating manner to make isolated tropical biomes on the Martian surface. Alternatively, as nuclear detonations are presently somewhat limited in terms of demonstrated achievable yield, the use of an off-the-shelf nuclear explosive device could be employed to "nudge" a Martian- grazing comet toward a pole of the planet. Impact would be a much more efficient scheme to deliver

7520-460: The universe. The worldwide presence of new isotopes from atmospheric testing beginning in the 1950s led to the 2008 development of a reliable way to detect art forgeries. Paintings created after that period may contain traces of caesium-137 and strontium-90 , isotopes that did not exist in nature before 1945. ( Fission products were produced in the natural nuclear fission reactor at Oklo about 1.7 billion years ago, but these decayed away before

7614-473: The use of hundreds of specialized nuclear explosives in the western Rockies gas fields. The previous two tests had indicated that the produced natural gas would be too radioactive for safe use; the Rio Blanco test found that the three blast cavities had not connected as hoped, and the resulting gas still contained unacceptable levels of radionuclides . By 1974, approximately $ 82 million had been invested in

7708-481: The use of national technical means, the treaty states that information and access to sites of explosions will be provided by each side, and includes a commitment not to interfere with verification means and procedures. The protocol to the PNE Treaty sets forth the specific agreed arrangements for ensuring that no weapon-related benefits precluded by the Threshold Test Ban Treaty are derived by carrying out

7802-403: The use of peaceful nuclear explosions to create deep seismic profiles. Compared to the usage of conventional explosives or mechanical methods, nuclear explosions allow the collection of longer seismic profiles (up to several thousand kilometres). Alexey Yablokov has stated that all PNE technologies have non-nuclear alternatives and that many PNEs actually caused nuclear disasters. Reports on

7896-405: Was a "900kg manhole cover" propelled by the somewhat focused detonation of test shot Pascal-B in August 1957. The use of a subterranean shaft and nuclear device to propel an object to escape velocity has since been termed a "thunder well". In the 1970s Edward Teller , in the United States, popularized the concept of using a nuclear detonation to power an explosively pumped soft X-ray laser as

7990-523: Was a primary food source). Studies also showed that the blasts would thaw the permafrost , making the slopes surrounding the harbor unstable, and negating any experimental value to be gained from using the project as a basis for extrapolation to other, warmer locations. While the AEC publicly touted prevailing winds from the north for dispersing radioactivity over the sea, the AEC privately desired to study landward distribution. The consistent wind patterns would prevent northward fallout patterns over land. In

8084-406: Was also calculated that a 1 Terawatt, 1-km diameter X-ray laser with 1 angstrom wavelength impinging on a 1-km diameter sail, could propel a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri in 10 years. A proposed means of averting an asteroid impacting with Earth, assuming short lead times between detection and Earth impact , is to detonate one, or a series, of nuclear explosive devices, on , in , or in

8178-560: Was also given to using these explosives for various mining operations. One proposal suggested using nuclear blasts to connect underground aquifers in Arizona . Another plan involved surface blasting on the western slope of California 's Sacramento Valley for a water transport project. One of the first serious cratering proposals that came close to being carried out was Project Chariot , which would have used several hydrogen bombs to create an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson, Alaska . It

8272-481: Was derived from fusion reactions, so only 0.3 kiloton was derived from fission. The repeated detonation of nuclear devices underground in salt domes , in a somewhat analogous manner to the explosions that power a car's internal combustion engine (in that it would be a heat engine ), has also been proposed as a means of fusion power in what is termed PACER . Other investigated uses for low-yield peaceful nuclear explosions were underground detonations to stimulate, by

8366-511: Was described by the Indian Government as a peaceful nuclear explosion. In Australia , nuclear blasting was proposed as a way of mining iron ore in the Pilbara . Apart from their use as weapons, nuclear explosives have been tested and used, in a similar manner to chemical high explosives , for various non-military uses. These have included large-scale earth moving, isotope production and

8460-460: Was eventually canceled. Citizen groups voiced concerns and opposition to some of the Plowshare tests. There were concerns that the blast effects from the Schooner explosion could dry up active wells or trigger an earthquake. There was opposition to both Rulison and Rio Blanco tests because of possible radioactive gas flaring operations and other environmental hazards. In a 1973 article, Time used

8554-639: Was more extensive, eventually conducting 239 nuclear explosions. Some of these tests also released radioactivity, including a significant release of plutonium into the groundwater and the polluting of an area near the Volga River . A major part of the program in the 1970s and 80s was the use of very small bombs to produce shock waves as a seismic measuring tool, and as part of these experiments, two bombs were successfully used to seal blown-out oil wells. The program officially ended in 1988. As part of ongoing arms control efforts, both programs came to be controlled by

8648-601: Was never carried out due to concerns for the native populations and the fact that there was little potential use for the harbor to justify its risk and expense. Project Carryall , proposed in 1963 by the Atomic Energy Commission , the California Division of Highways (now Caltrans ), and the Santa Fe Railway , would have used 22 nuclear explosions to excavate a massive roadcut through the Bristol Mountains in

8742-600: Was organized in June 1957 as part of the worldwide Atoms for Peace efforts. As part of the program, 35 nuclear warheads were detonated in 27 separate tests. A similar program was carried out in the Soviet Union under the name Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy , although the Soviet program consisted of 124 tests. Successful demonstrations of non-combat uses for nuclear explosives include rock blasting , stimulation of tight gas , chemical element manufacture, unlocking some of

8836-522: Was primarily changing public opinion, in response to events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis , that drove the protests, court cases and general hostility that ended the oil and gas stimulation efforts. Furthermore, as the years went by without further development and production of nuclear weapons slowed, interest in peaceful applications waned in the 1950s–60s. Cheaper, non-nuclear stimulation techniques suitable for most US gas fields were developed in

#483516