10nfl1-Nukes-Cover
NUKES WERE USED TO STOP A GAS LEAK IN UZBEKISTAN ONCE
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| NUKES WERE USED TO STOP A GAS LEAK IN UZBEKISTAN ONCE. M.D. Nordyke Professor of Nuclear Physics @ University of Arizona The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions USDOE, September 1, 2000 On December 1, 1963, while drilling gas Well No. 11 in the Urtabulak gas field in Southern Uzbekistan about 80 km southeast of Bukhara, control of the well was lost at a depth of 2450 m. Thk resulted in the loss of more than 12 million m of gas per day through an inch casing, enough gas to supply the needs of a large city, such as St. Petersburg. Formation pressures were about 27@300 atmospheres. 87,88,89 Over the next three years, many attempts were made using a variety of techniques to cap the well at the surface or to reduce the flow and extinguish the flames. However, because the bottom 1000 m of the casing had not yet been cemented, such attempts led to diversion of the gas into nearby wells and to serious personnel safety problems because of the high HzS content of the gas. Underground attempts were hampered by the fact that the location of the lower portion of the hole had not been logged at the time control was lost. Finally, in the fall of 1966, a decision was made to attempt closing the well with the use of a nuclear explosive. It was believed that a nuclear explosion would squeeze close any hole located within 25-50 m of the explosion, depending on the yield. Two cm (in) diameter slant wells, Holes No. c and c, were drilled simultaneously. They were aimed to come as close as possible to Hole No. 11 at a depth of about 1500 min the middle of a 200-m-thick clay zone. This depth was considered sufficient to contain the atmosphere pressure in the gas formation below. A number of acoustic and electromagnetic techniques were used to estimate the distance between Hole No 11 and inclined explosive emplacement hole at 1450 m. The final estimate for the closest distance between Hole No. 11 and Hole No. lC was 35 + 10 m. The location for the explosive in Hole c was cooled to bring it down to a temperature the explosive could withstand. A special 3O-ktnuclear explosive developed by the Arzamas nuclear weapons laboratory for this event was emplaced in Hole c and stemmed. It was detonated on September 30, 1966. Twenty- three seconds later the flame went out, and the well was sealed. 10NFL1-Nuclear Weapons Page 187 of 199 www.victorybriefs.com Download 1.23 Mb. Share with your friends:
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