Should we nuke the oil leak?
Daniel Foster writes at NRO that the Soviet Union successfully used nuclear devices to stop gas leaks on land five times between 1966 and 1970.
It looks like Mr. Obama is at least willing to explore the possibility of using a nuclear explosion to seal the leak. The Telegraph reported two weeks ago, that Mr. Obama and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu sent a group of nuclear physicists –including 82-year-old Richard Garwin, designer of the first hydrogen bomb - to the Gulf to help find a solution to capping the well. (But see UPDATE below)
Right now the only so-called “sure” method of stopping the leak is to complete the relief well. But, even that method may hit snags . BP initially said that the relief well would be completed by August. In the worst case scenario, the oil will continue to spew from the Gulf floor until December.
When you’re not a scientist, the nuclear option seems unfathomable. But, if it is possible that the nuclear option would work, if it would not create more catastrophic damage than the oil leak itself, and if all the other “ifs” are satisfactorily answered, maybe it’s not crazy.
Here’s the rub, even if we had a consensus of experts that a nuclear option was the answer (a big “if”), would Mr. Obama, given his background, his education and his constituency, chose this option?
In the meantime, keep praying for a miracle - divine miracle or engineering miracle. We need some good news. Soon.
Here is a newscast from Russia Today with film of the Soviet gas leaks. It’s quite a different situation from the Gulf.
Update: The New York Times reports that “Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said that neither Energy Secretary Steven Chu nor anyone else was thinking about a nuclear blast under the gulf. The nuclear option was not - and never had been - on the table, federal officials said.”
Given that statement from the Energy Department, why did they gather the nuclear physicists together?
Further reading:
http://article.nationalreview.com/435325/nuke-it/daniel-foster?page=1
http://www.nationalpost.com/well+could+gush+until+Christmas/3105125/story.html
Photo: Trinity blast - public domain - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Trinity_blast_10sec.jpg
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojCbqfRRr8
Copyright 2010 - K.J.Collins
