OSTI Document ID 408695
Local PDF osti/408695.pdf
Title The Soviet program for peaceful uses of nuclear explosions
Creator/Author Nordyke, M.D.
Publication Date 1996 Jul 24
Report Number(s) line line docnumall
DOE Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48
Resource/
Doc Type
Technical Report
Resource Relation PBD: 24 Jul 1996
Research
Organization
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
Sponsoring
Organization
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
Subject 29 ENERGY PLANNING AND POLICY ;45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE ; USSR; NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS; TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION; USES; USA; PLOWSHARE PROJECT; HISTORICAL ASPECTS; GOVERNMENT POLICIES; INLAND WATERWAYS; WATER RESERVOIRS; DAMS; ENHANCED RECOVERY; UNDERGROUND SPACE; SALT CAVERNS; SEISMOLOGY; UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
Description/
Abstract
The concept of utilizing the weapons of war to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind is as old as civilization itself. Perhaps the most famous reference to this basic desire is recorded in the Book of Micah where the great prophet Isiah called upon his people`to turn your spears into pitchforks and your swords into plowshares.` As the scientists at Los Alamos worked on developing the world`s first atomic bomb, thoughts of how this tremendous new source of energy could be used for peaceful purposes generally focused on using the thermal energy generated by the slow fission of uranium in a reactor, such as those being used to produce Plutonium to drive electric power stations. However, being scientists in a new, exciting field, it was impossible to avoid letting their minds wander from the task at hand to other scientific or non-military uses for the bombs themselves. During the Manhattan Project, Otto Frisch, one of the pioneers in the development of nuclear fission process in the 1930s, first suggested using an atomic explosion as a source for a large quantities of neutrons which could used in scientific experiments designed to expand their understanding of nuclear physics. After the war was over, many grandiose ideas appeared in the popular press on how this new source of energy should be to serve mankind. Not to be left out of the growing enthusiasm for peaceful uses of atomic energy, the Soviet Union added their visions to the public record. This document details the Soviet program for using nuclear explosions in peacetime pursuits.
Country of
Publication
United States
Language English
Format 91 p. ; PL:
Availability INIS ; OSTI as DE97050256
OSTI Identifier OSTI ID: 408695 ; DE97050256
System Entry Date 2001 May 05