Reply #57: Apparently the Russians (or the Soviets) have stopped oil gushers with nukes

[csziggy]

Nuke the Gulf Oil Gusher, Russians Suggest

By Jeremy Hsu, LiveScience Senior Writer

posted: 12 May 2010 12:04 pm ET

Using a nuclear explosion to try to plug the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico might sound like overkill, but a Russian newspaper has suggested just that based on past Soviet successes. Even so, there are crucial differences between the lessons of the past and the current disaster unfolding.

The Russians previously used nukes at least five times to seal off gas well fires. A targeted nuclear explosion might similarly help seal off the oil well channel that has leaked oil unchecked since the sinking of a BP oil rig on April 22, according to a translation of the account in the daily newspaper Komsomoloskaya Pravda by Julia Ioffe of the news website True/Slant.

Weapons labs in the former Soviet Union developed special nukes for use to help pinch off the gas wells. They believed that the force from a nuclear explosion could squeeze shut any hole within 82 to 164 feet (25 to 50 meters), depending on the explosion's power. That required drilling holes to place the nuclear device close to the target wells.

More: http://www.livescience.com/technology/russia-nuke-gulf-oil-well-100512.html

Rather than nuke it why, if it gets to that point, why not try one of our 'bunker busters'?