nukepod

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Nuclear geoengineering?! In the 1950s, the Atomic Energy Commission developed a plan to use nukes to excavate a harbor in Alaska. Coming soon on The Nuclear Option: the story of the confluence of indigenous resistance and white environmentalism.

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JFK’s doodles during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Very glad JFK settled on CUBA + GOOD and not CUBA + ANNIHILATION. Diplomacy saved the day. 

Artifact located at the Cold War Museum in Warrenton, VA.

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Colorado tried nuclear fracking.

There’s something strange in the Colorado state constitution. It bans nuclear detonations - or, at least, you need voter approval first. There’s Project Rulison to thank for that. 

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Photos of the nuclear explosive ― described as “nine inches in diameter, fifteen feet long, with an explosive power of forty thousand tons of TNT” ― built by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for Project Rulison.

This was one of three experiments (the other two being “Gasbuggy” and “Wagon Wheel”) in which nuclear explosives were used to fracture tight sandstone formations, in order to stimulate the production of fossil fuels (gas). The technique never saw routine use, partly because concerns over the production of tritium by thermonuclear reactions led to the use of pure-fission devices, which cost more per unit energy (although the difference is not huge below 100 kt or so). Even so, opponents made much of a prediction that, if it were widely employed, tritium levels in groundwater in the Mountain West might ultimately rise to three per cent of permissible levels for drinking water.

On the other hand, in the USSR, six nuclear explosives were used to put out five oil- and gas-well fires in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Hence, the total number of nuclear explosives used operationally for peacetime industrial purposes is at least three times that used in war.

See the complete film here.

The film-to-video transfer cost me $120.91, which was defrayed by a supporter. I have a number of additional reels awaiting transfer, and contributions in aid of that are much appreciated.

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NO MORE HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKIS

MEDICAL AID FOR THE HIBAKUSHAS [bomb survivors]

This poster emphasizes that there are multiple paths toward safety. While the U.S. went with nuclear deterrence, there was always a choice to build community instead.

By Nancy Hom @americanartmuseum

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Duga-2, A.K.A. Russian Woodpecker

This is the Duga radar system, in today's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Duga worked kind of like how bats and dolphins use echolocation - it sent radio waves through the skies, and detected when signals bounced back (indicating a possible incoming missile).

Duga was visible from the rooftops of Pripyat. For the rest of the world, it didn't exist. Well, except amateur radio operators and NATO triangulated the clicks and figured it out. This kind of secret is hard to keep.

In this sound file, you can tell why Duga was nicknamed the "Russian Woodpecker." 1984 recording from NIST's WWVH radio station.

Stay tuned for the first episodes of The Nuclear Option Podcast! Coming August 2021. In the meantime, follow us here and on Twitter @NukePod