2 ms·

See also: operation plowshare. The idea was you could use nuclear bombs to dig canals. Or make harbors. Or really any large scale earth moving project. The U.S

by somat 2mo ago

See also: operation plowshare. The idea was you could use nuclear bombs to dig canals. Or make harbors. Or really any large scale earth moving project. The U.S. did one test shot, a shallow buried bomb intended as a cratering charge. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.176944,-116.046111,4654m https://www.google.com/maps/@37.176944,-116.046111,4654m This ended up contaminating more people than any other test which put the breaks on that. The soviets had an equivalent study but tried a little harder and are now the proud owners of several new irradiated lakes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_Nat...

pfdietz 2mo ago
That whole effort was predicated on success of efforts to develop fission-free bombs. That never worked out, although the inertial confinement fusion program is in a way its descendant. The scale of ICF reactors shows why it didn't work out. A slight shame, since this might have made Project Pacer (exploding bombs in caverns to make energy) more feasible. There still would have been enormous tritium production/pollution.
schiffern 2mo ago
>The U.S. did one test shot I'm seeing 11 shots total,[0] though Wikipedia lists even more. "Nine were for the purpose of developing an ultra-low fission thermonuclear explosive for use in nuclear excavation projects and one each was for the development of special emplacement techniques and for a small diameter, ultra-low tritium producing explosive for hydrocarbon applications such as Rio Blanco." [0] Table 1 on page 7 (PDF page 11) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/408695 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/408695

by somat 2mo ago

pfdietz 2mo ago

That whole effort was predicated on success of efforts to develop fission-free bombs. That never worked out, although the inertial confinement fusion program is in a way its descendant. The scale of ICF reactors shows why it didn't work out. A slight shame, since this might have made Project Pacer (exploding bombs in caverns to make energy) more feasible. There still would have been enormous tritium production/pollution.

schiffern 2mo ago

>The U.S. did one test shot I'm seeing 11 shots total,[0] though Wikipedia lists even more. "Nine were for the purpose of developing an ultra-low fission thermonuclear explosive for use in nuclear excavation projects and one each was for the development of special emplacement techniques and for a small diameter, ultra-low tritium producing explosive for hydrocarbon applications such as Rio Blanco." [0] Table 1 on page 7 (PDF page 11) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/408695 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/408695