NUCLEAR EXCAVATION TECHNOLOGY
Large scale excavation is perhaps the most obvious and straightforward use of nuclear explosives. The size of the excavation depends on several factors, such as the explosive yield, medium, and depth of burst. Considerable knowledge has been obtained over the last several years on the cratering effect of chemical and nuclear explosives in a variety of media. Further, it has been shown that several explosives, spaced about a single crater radius apart and detonated simultaneously, will produce a uniform channel with a width and depth approximately equal to single crater dimensions. Such a channel may be used for applications such as waterways and railroad and highway cuts. Burial of the nuclear explosive at such a depth that almost maximum dimensions are obtained results in trapping over 90% of the radioactivity underground. Tbis entrapment, when combined with the use of nuclear explosives in wbich a very small fraction of the energy comes from fission processes, allows nuclear excavation to be used in remote areas with complete radiological safety. Presently published costs for nuclear excavation indicate that the unit cost of excavation decreases with increasing depth of excavation. In general, nuclear excavation is economical for depths greater than about 100 ft. It is anticipated that future technological development and mass production of nuclear explosives will substantially reduce present published device costs. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- California. Univ., Livermore. Lawrence Radiation Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- NSA Number:
- NSA-18-017971
- OSTI ID:
- 4035238
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-7658; CONF-461-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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