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Both Cold War superpowers considered some variant of using nuclear weaponry for subterranean engineering in their "peaceful atom" projects. For example soviets

Both Cold War superpowers considered some variant of using nuclear weaponry for subterranean engineering in their "peaceful atom" projects. For example soviets actually used a nuke to put out a gas well fire: https://interestingengineering.com/soviet-engineers-detonated-a-nuke-miles-underground-to-put-out-a-gas-well-fire https://interestingengineering.com/soviet-engineers-detonate...

ineedasername 5y ago
Yep, the US had a program called "Project Plowshares" dedicated to their use in, primarily, construction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  The quiet-part-out-loudness of naming a project designed as a propaganda measure to leverage peaceful applications of nuclear technology (including explosions) to build acceptance of (/ mitigate opposition to) nuclear weaponry qua weaponry so as to invoke Joel 3:9-10 (“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: / Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong”) is, well, pretty amazing.
  - techdragon 5y ago
    Neat, now I have a counter quote for “swords into ploughshares”
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    The cynicism is dizzying.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      I mean, tbf, they probably intended people to read it as a reference to Isaiah 2:4 (“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 anymore”) which is a somewhat more popular passage.