CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVES (PLOWSHARE) PROGRAM to conditions created by nuclear explosions. continued The majority of this equipment will be acquired by LRL in connection with (ORNL), a gas chromatograph, recorders, and some temperature control apparatus are planned to be procured. APPENDIX 9 REPORTS ON POSSIBLE PEACEFUL APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS IN THE U.S.S.R. AND RELATED MATTERS, Moscow, 1969 FOREWORD This report is one of three recently released by the Soviet Union to the U. S. Mission and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. The reports discuss the use of nuclear explosions for industrial and construction projects in the Soviet Union, the results of two experimental detonations that were recently conducted in the USSR, and general theory developed as a result of such experiments. The two other reports are: Mechanical Effects of Underground Nuclear Explosions and Radioactive Contamination of the Environment By Underground Nuclear Explosions, and Methods of Forecasting It. These reports were translated by Mr. Grimes of AZTEC, Inc., and were edited for technical accuracy and terminology by M. Nordyke of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore, California. REVIEW OF POSSIBLE PEACEFUL APPLICATIONS OF Chapter IV. Intensification of Petroleum and Gas Mining Gas, Gas Condensate and Petroleum Products 13 3 6 9 11 11 14 18 20 NATURE OF THE PROBLEM Due to the large volume of construction, the large areas of sparsely populated expanses with bleak climatic conditions and the distribution of large deposits of mineral resources in these areas, the Soviet Union should have bright future perspectives for the successful application of underground nuclear explosions for industrial purposes. Scientific and experimental studies play an important role in the perspective plans for application of nuclear explosions for industrial purposes. Investigations were made of underground explosions and on explosions with an external effect (breaking off, heaving, ejection, and sliding). Great attention was paid to the industrial application of underground explosions, which are safer than explosions with external effect. The preference shown to underground explosions in tests and investigations is explained by the strict adherence of our country to the well-known paragraphs of the Moscow Agreement "on the ban of nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in cosmic space and underwater." It has been established by investigation of economic efficiency and by computations that in comparison to modern methods of mining, the use of explosions with external effect are the most economical; these explosions are made in order to crush and excavate large volumes of rock massif. The economical effect (savings) while carrying out certain projects using cratering explosions is expected to reach scores and hundreds of millions of rubles. Valuable scientific and technical information on mechanical, seismic, and radiation effects of nuclear explosions have been obtained as a result of these investigations. The engineering and technical properties of rock in areas of crushing, cracking and piling have also undergone investigations. The study of the specific features of nuclear explosions was paralleled by an extensive study on establishing directions and identifying concrete objectives for the industrial application of explosions. Taking into consideration the specific features of the effect of underground nuclear explosions on the surrounding ground, the following possible applications of an industrial nature in various branches of the country's economy have been established. Investigations and work on projects are underway along those lines: Explosions of External Effect 1. Opening up of deposits of solid mineral resources. 2. Building of canals. 3. Building of rock-fill hydro-engineering dams. 4. Construction of pits for water-supply reservoirs. 5. Construction of excavated trenches and embankments in railroad and highway construction. |