[ RadSafe ] nuclear bomb testing

[Doug Aitken]

It's kinda like using a soldering iron to seal a minor cut on your finger:
sure, you may effectively seal the cut, but at what cost to the surrounding
tissue? 

You may seal that one well with a nuke, but why not use a proper technical
solution? 

Detonating a nuke underground will do quite a lot of damage to the
underground strata. That may be acceptable where you have a deep reservoir
and a vast shale bed above that can be pulverized and hopefully block the
flow of whatever high pressure hydrocarbons are flowing. But in many (most!)
geological situations, you may open other, multiple, pathways for their
release. Or cause cross-contamination of other reservoirs (including
aquifers!)

And you have to drill a well precisely to the spot where you want to
detonate the device: why not continue to drill that well until it intersects
the blowing wellbore and inject heavy fluids to control the flow (the
standard method of controlling a blow-out)?

Regards
Doug

Doug Aitken
QHSE Advisor, Schlumberger D&M Operations Support
Cell Phone: 713-562-8585
(alternate e-mail: doug.aitken at slb.com )
Mail: c/o Therese Wigzell,
Schlumberger,
Drilling & Measurements HQ,
300 Schlumberger Drive, MD15,
Sugar Land, Texas 77478



-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Rees, Brian G
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 5:53 PM
To: 'radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu'
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] nuclear bomb testing

Sealing wells with a nuke was demonstrated by the Russians with great
success, containment of underground bursts is well understood and easily
conducted, why the concern?  It's a valid and reasonable technical solution.


(Obviously) my own personal opinion.

Brian Rees 

----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Aitken [mailto:jdaitken at sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com]
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 12:29 PM
To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
List' <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] nuclear bomb testing

Let me understand:
You want to resume underground nuclear testing for what?????
Your first:
"(to see if?) we can determine whether nuclear explosions were responsible
for the low statistical incidence of large earthquakes in California in past
decades" would seem to be a wild hypothetical that no amount of bomb
explosions could shed any light on..... (but I will leave that to experts: I
am just guessing....)

Your second:
"(to see if?) whether we can reliably plug leaking oil wells with them?" is
of some interest to me (after over 40 years in the oil business). 
During the Macondo blowout, this was one of the crackpot schemes floated to
stop the release of fluids from the damaged wellhead. Luckily, saner minds
prevailed and a controlled, engineered solution was employed (taking a bit
longer that we would have liked, but with a successful outcome).

I find it strange that you, as a person who has shown to be anti-nuclear in
previous posts (against the rational use of nuclear energy to generate
electricity) would propose something so totally uncontrolled as this. 
Sure, the Russians are supposed to have used nukes in this way. But that
don't make it right! There are proper techniques available controlling
blowouts, without resorting to these cowboy tactics.

Regards
Doug

Doug Aitken
QHSE Advisor, Schlumberger D&M Operations Support Cell Phone: 713-562-8585
(alternate e-mail: doug.aitken at slb.com )
Mail: c/o Therese Wigzell,
Schlumberger,
Drilling & Measurements HQ,
300 Schlumberger Drive, MD15,
Sugar Land, Texas 77478



-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of James Salsman
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 11:36 AM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] nuclear bomb testing

Do those of you who disagree with Sternglass's findings believe that we
should resume above ground nuclear weapons testing?

I would like to resume limited below ground nuclear explosion testing until
we can determine whether nuclear explosions were responsible for the low
statistical incidence of large earthquakes in California in past decades and
whether we can reliably plug leaking oil wells with them.

Sincerely,
James Salsman
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