From Russia With Love

[True_Avery]

So, as many of us know an explosion caused an offshore oil rig to go out of commission, and the hole it was pumping out of essentially got its freedom and is pumping oil out at a rate of like 200,000 barrels a day, but some estimates put it at high as a million a day.

 

Now, there is a lot to talk about. Like how the companies in charge are only going to pay for a very small portion and the couple hundred billion dollar pickup is being put on tax payers, the actual portion they are paying being about 1% of which they make in profit yearly.

 

We could talk about the vast environmental damage and how smaller spills are still being cleaned up after 15 years, and many areas and beaches of the gulf are going to be uninhabitable for years to come, not to mention the damage to the fishing and tourism industry.

 

We could even talk about how the depth and temperature have turned the oil to slush and essentially made it incredibly difficult to cap the leak in any reasonable amount of time.

 

No, what we're here to talk about is what Russia recommends we do. Something they have done about 5 times with their oil spills, and about 167 other times for other underwater tasks:

 

Set off a nuclear warhead underwater, compressing the hole down by moving the earth and glassing the surface sand Halo/Star Wars style to stop the leak in its tracks.

 

Good going, Russia.

 

Here are 9 ways, most of which are considered duds, that are being considered:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/9-Ways-to-Fix-a-Catastrophic-Oil-Spill-3568/

 

From where I'm sitting, nuking the hole doesn't seem like the worst idea right now.

 

Also, fun site to get an idea of how big the oil spill roughly is:

http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/

 

Keep in mind that map is from the 6th, so chances are its grown quite a bit.

 

... and you can talk about the rest of the story if -must-

[JediAthos]

Well, first of all I think it's asinine that the oil companies would not be on the hook for the entire cost of the cleanup. It was their well, and it blew up, they should have to clean it up. These idiots are up on Capitol Hill trying to blame each other and the gulf coast is being poisoned...maybe Congress will drop the hammer on them, but that's probably just wishful thinking.

 

As to stopping the leak... I'm with you Avery the nuclear idea from our friends the Russians really doesn't seem that bad. The giant cap failed, it's taken them days to move the smaller cap into place and it'll be at least another day before we'll know it'll work. If it doesn't work then what? They waste more time trying to come up with another idea? Hell, the Russians have done the nuclear thing before...bring them in to help if it will stop the spill faster.

[Arcesious]

Nuke the whales. Got a hole you gotta fill? Use a nuke. War? Use nukes. ELE potential Asteroids? Nukes. Volcano? Nukes. Earthquake? Nuke it. Hurricane? Nukes. Terrorists? Nuke them. Building demolition? Nukes. Do you just need s*** blown up? Nukes.

 

Have there been any radiation contamination problems in the oceans when they've done this before?

 

I think the Russians like their nukes too much...

[JediAthos]

(This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.)

 

Here's some more on the Russian idea. It seems they used it on land based problems, never at sea so there is really no telling what the effects could be.

[Sabretooth]

This is not only going to solve the oil spill, but become the best-selling television event in history. Who the hell doesn't want to see a nuke go off on live TV even if underwater?

[Astor]

I've always said we don't use enough nukes to solve things.

 

And one less nuke to actually fire at something can't be a bad thing.

[machievelli]

The thing is, the nuke we need doesn't even need to be that big. A one kiloton device (The US Army has 'backpack' nukes of this yield) would stop the leak, and at the same time vaporize the sludge still floating upward.

 

The downside? Everything within about a kilometer would be killed by the shockwave.

 

As for long term effects, Bikini Atoll suffered twenty-three tests, including a 15 megaton device. but life has returned to that area of the ocean, though we would need to import food, and the radiation level dropped enough that in 1997 the islands were declared safe to inhabit again. It's been 23 years since, so it probably is safe to eat local produce again.

 

Setting off one backpack nuke would take a lot less time to clear.

 

What the environmentalists don't want to admit, there is nothing the human race could do to kill this planet, but changes in the envrionment could easily kill us off instead.

[Litofsky]

Let's nuke it.

[Web Rider]

The thing is, the nuke we need doesn't even need to be that big. A one kiloton device (The US Army has 'backpack' nukes of this yield) would stop the leak, and at the same time vaporize the sludge still floating upward.

Yeah, but we're America. We don't do anything "just enough". I mean, we've got a giant oil leak, a giant cap that failed, so we need a giant nuke. I mean, 50kilotons at the least. More if we have one of those sitting around.

[Ping]

The only thing that really worries me is that the radiation and shockwave would harm and possibly infect the local wildlife. Other then that, this idea doesn't seem that bad. Besides, that's one less nuke in the world.

[JediAthos]

Ping I understand your concern here, but frankly the nuke would be nothing compared to the lasting effects this spill will create if they can't contain it. Sludge has already reach the Alabama coast and continues to spread.

 

I like the nuke idea...like I said before, bring the Russkies in if we have to. I'm sure those jackasses over at BP would have a heart attack if Obama authorized this...hell it might be worth it just to see a big oil company squirm

[Samnmax221]

Russia Today makes Fux News look good.

[Q]

Since everything else has failed, I think that nuking the leak may very well end up being the only viable option.

[mimartin]

All I can think is this is the plot line to every bad 50’s B sci-fi movie. I can see the title now, Man Eating Radioactive Shrimp from the Gulf – It is payback time.

 

This maybe just not in my backyard logic, but I’m totally against this Nuke thing.

 

I played Fallout 3

[ChAiNz.2da]

The only thing that really worries me is that the radiation and shockwave would harm and possibly infect the local wildlife. Other then that, this idea doesn't seem that bad. Besides, that's one less nuke in the world.

 

All I can think is this is the plot line to every bad 50’s B sci-fi movie. I can see the title now, Man Eating Radioactive Shrimp from the Gulf – It is payback time.

I played Fallout 3

 

 

[purifier]

All I can think is this is the plot line to every bad 50’s B sci-fi movie. I can see the title now, Man Eating Radioactive Shrimp from the Gulf – It is payback time.

 

 

Speaking of shrimp, it looks like the shrimpers are going to take BP to the cleaners.

 

And this is old news, but just in case some of you haven't heard about this yet, take a look....

 

vvvvvvv

 

Bayou La Batre shrimper sues BP over Gulf Coast oil spill

 

 

Gulf state shrimpers sue BP over oil spill

 

 

Reuters Alertnews - "which seeks economic and compensatory damages of at least $5 million."

 

 

 

Yeah I'd say it's "payback time" alright, somebody's definitely gonna pay....*CHA-CHING!*

[JediAthos]

"In an interview published in a British newspaper on Friday, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward appeared to play down the spill.

 

"The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant that we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total volume of water," Hayward was quoted as saying in Britain's Guardian newspaper."

 

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_oil_rig_leak_obama

 

What world is this guy living in?

[Totenkopf]

The world of spin control.

[True_Avery]

Well, of course it is tiny in relation to the -ocean-. The problem is not it dispersing into the ocean, however. The -problem- is it hitting beaches and reefs, and considering there is still oil washing up 15 years after Alaska's spill I'm not entirely sure how far up his own a** his head is.

[JediAthos]

Yes, definitely a a case of cranial rectal inversion going on there. I did read somewhere the other day that the White House is putting pressure on BP to eat the entire cost of the cleanup though.

[True_Avery]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100513-science-environment-gulf-oil-spill-cap-leak/

[Q]

I think that it's time to weigh the environmental impact of a small nuke verses the continued outpouring of tons of oil a day.

 

I'd be willing to bet that the nuke's the better option.

[jrrtoken]

I think that it's time to weigh the environmental impact of a small nuke verses the continued outpouring of tons of oil a day.

 

I'd be willing to bet that the nuke's the better option.

Considering the number of strategic nuclear warhead tests that have been conducted on arctic and pacific islands in the past century, I think that the world isn't going to crack from one more tactical nuclear detonation near the sea. A several thousand-mile-long pancake of sludge sounds more frightening by comparison, frankly.

[JediAthos]

"We don't have any idea how to stop this," Simmons said of the Gulf leak. Some of the proposed strategies—such as temporarily plugging the leaking pipe with a jet of golf balls and other material—are a "joke," he added.

 

"We really are in unprecedented waters."

 

Really?? You've been drilling in the Gulf for HOW LONG?? You really have no idea how to stop it?

 

Wow...just...wow.

 

@PastramiX: I agree 100% at this point especially given the quote above. This thing needs to be stopped, and apparently nobody was listening to the Russian when they said "hey, we've got an idea!"

[Litofsky]

Idiots. How in the hell do we manage to function on a day-to-day basis as it is? Just nuke the freaking leak and be done with it.