[ale] BP knew of problems 11 months before the rig blew

[Jim Kinney]

I think the nuke site address is:

28100 Torch Pkwy
Ste 300
Warrenville, IL 60555
 (630) 836-5000
www.bp.com<http://www.yelp.com/biz_redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bp.com&src_bizid=PZYmBygzT5N6qH3EZkUTTA&cachebuster=1275243739>


</snark>

On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 2:08 PM, Tom Freeman <tfreeman at intel.digichem.net>wrote:

> I'm doing this off the top of my head, so expect errors.
>
> Re: using a nuke. Couple of objections here.
>
> Lets start with the easiest to take care of - BP is a corporation and
> doesn't (well isn't supposed to at least) have access to nukes. And
> last time I heard, BP is still in charge of the cleanup/stop leaking
> operations.
>
> I think, there may well be treaty obligations for the US also, which
> I suspect pretty much rule out even a small nuke.
>
> Back in the 60's and early '70's there was a government run program to
> harness small nuclear explosions to engineering (civil) problems. I was
> a tad bit young then, but if memory serves Project Ploughshare was
> pretty much a bust from the get go, and that was all land based work.
> Of the publically acknowledged shots, none of them in my memory
> produced anything like what the engineers expected, although they did
> frequently manage to more millions of tons of material around.  I don't
> remember any marine experiments, which would just complicate the
> issure.
>
> Finally, I'm not sure that an explosion of any sort would be effective
> in the first place. Since the petroleum appears to be under a modest
> abount of pressure, and the fluid is fairly viscous also, any explosion
> of sufficient power to fracture enough rock is going to suspend that
> rock into the upwelling current. Looks to me like a recipe for making a
> large hole in the bottom of the ocean from a small hole. (And that
> doesn't address the unknown probability of getting enough small stuff
> to actually plug the hole from an explosive device. Maybe if you
> managed to get the explosives to the bottom of the bore??)
>
> I like things that go "boom" pretty much as well as anyone, but I
> honestly don't see explosives working to close off the hole. YMMV of
> course.
>
>
> On 05/30/2010 01:22:30 PM, Damon L. Chesser wrote:
> > For crying out loud.  Use a very large HE explosive or a very small
> > tatical nuke.  Hole sealed, oil in the area neutralized.
> >
> > Of course we can't use a nuke, after all nukes are BAD.  NOT.
> >
> > The problem that I see is that politically/socially/enviroly, nukes
> > are
> > not an option.  Don't know why a large (very large) explosive would
> > not
> > work.  If you nuke it, you can't use that well (opening) any more and
> > if
> > you want THAT oil, you would have to diagonally drill off from about
> > 2
> > miles distance.  So, we would have a 1 mile patch of glowing ocean 1
> > mile deep.  I don't see a problem with that, but I am insensitive,
> > and
> > perhaps (admittedly) not fully informed on the repercussions.
> >
> > On Sun, 2010-05-30 at 10:13 -0400, Jim Kinney wrote:
> > > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html?
> > >
> > > Time to start pumping the well head full of execs yet?
> > >
> > > Does anyone know of a single component compound that reacts with
> > mixed
> > > organics to make a solid? Drilling mud is a lubricant. They need to
> > > pump in a fast-setting glue. However, since the article talks about
> > > the screw ups in the valve and the cement well casing I'm concerned
> > > that with the well pressure a plugged head will only force a leak
> > (or
> > > blowout) near the head in the sea floor. The cement casing is
> > supposed
> > > to act as a reinforcement but there are reports that the material
> > used
> > > was substandard (thanks Haliburton!) and poorly installed.
> > >
> > > Maybe since the riser pipe is still attached to the head they can
> > beat
> > > on it with the "top cap" box and crimp it down to cut the flow. Who
> > > knows. Maybe a slow crimping cutoff of the flow will not shock the
> > > casing and allow a temporary blockage with the sub-floor fracturing
> > of
> > > the crappy casing they are worried about.
> > >
> > > --
> > > --
> > > James P. Kinney III
> > > Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness
> > > Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits
> > >
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Damon
> > damon at damtek.com
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness
Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits
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