A review of Soviet data on the peaceful uses of nuclear explosions
Abstract
Over the past several years through a series of international meetings sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and in a number of publications (AEC-tr-7121, 1969; Kedrovskiy, 1970; Kedrovskiy et al., 1970; Kedrovskiy et al., 1971), the Soviet Union has disclosed that they have a very active program for developing peaceful uses of nuclear explosions (PNE) in their national economy. They have described the results of 16 experimental and industrial explosions designed to develop nine different applications in the petroleum, gas, and minerals industries, as well as for water resources development. However, when one considers the large number of large unidentified seismic events that have been reported over the last seven years in areas of the Soviet Union outside the normal nuclear-weapons test areas, it is obvious that they have an even more active program than they have publicly described, one that must be approaching a routine industrial technology in some areas. In this paper, the PNE program that the Soviets have publicly discussed in various reports and at various meetings is summarized and, when appropriate, compared with data from the U.S. Plowshare Program.
- Publication:
-
Annals of Nuclear Energy
- Pub Date:
- 1975
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0306-4549(75)90120-6
- Bibcode:
- 1975AnNuE...2..657N