UNDERSTANDING AND CONSTRUCTIVELY USING THE EFFECTS OF UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

THE UNCLASSIFIED RESEARCH IS DESCRIBED THAT IS DIRECTED TOWARD THE UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSION PHENOMENA AND THAT IS APPLIED TO DEVELOPING CONSTRUCTIVE APPLICATIONS FOR NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS. THE EQUATIONS OF STATE FOR GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS ARE OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE IN DESCRIBING THE RESPONSE OF THESE MATERIALS TO NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS. THESE EQUATIONS ARE BASED ON GEOPHYSICAL AND LABORARORY MEASUREMENTS OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND ON THEORETICAL CALCULATIONS FOR THE HIGH-PRESSURE AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO MEASUREMENT. PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS OF GROUND MOTION GENERATED BY EXPLOSIONS ARE USED, TOGETHER WITH THE EQUATIONS OF STATE, CHEMICAL AND THERMODYNAMIC THEORY, AND THE LAWS OF CONTINUUM MECHANICS, TO DEVELOP MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR PREDICTING EXPLOSION PHENOMENA. POSTSHOT EXPLORATION IS NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE RESIDUAL EXPLOSION EFFECTS, SUCH AS HEAT DEPOSITION, ROCK FRACTURING, AND CHIMNEY FORMATION. THESE EXPLORATIONS GIVE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CLUES THAT AID IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE EXPERIMENT. FUTHERMORE, THE RESIDUAL EFFECTS ARE OF INTEREST IN MANY ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS INCLUDE AIRBLAST AND SEISMIC MOTION THAT MAY DAMAGE PROPERTY AND RADIOACTIVITY THAT MAY BE A HEALTH HAZARD. SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN PREDICTING AIRBLAST, GROUND MOTION, AND RADIOACTIVITY DISTRIBUTION, BUT MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ORDER THAT THESE HAZARDS BE PREDICTABLE WITH A KNOWN STATISTICAL ACCURACY. NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS ARE INTENSE SOURCES OF NEUTRONS. THEREFORE, EXPERIMENTS ARE CONDUCTED TO MEASURE NEUTRON CROSS SECTIONS AND TO PRODUCE HEAVY ELEMENTS. THE HEAVIEST NUCLIDE PRODUCED TO DATE BY THIS TECHNIQUE HAS A MASS NUMBER OF 257. THE SEISMIC WAVES GENERATED BY NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS HAVE BEEN USED BY GEOPHYSICISTS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES TO DETERMINE THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH WITH A PRECISION NOT POSSIBLE WITH EARTHQUAKES. FINALLY, RESEARCH IS UNDER WAY TO RELATE THE EFFECTS OF AN EXPLOSION TO ITS INTENDED USE (IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, FOR EXAMPLE). /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol6, No3, PP401-445, 52FIG, REF
• Corporate Authors:

  N/A

  ,   United States 
• Authors:
  • Rodean, H C
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Review Geophysics
  • Publisher: N/A

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Applications; Chemical properties; Classical field theory; Earth movements (Geophysics); Elastic waves; Equations; Geology; Laboratory tests; Mathematical models; Neutrons; Nuclear explosions; Physical properties; Radioactivity; Soil tests; Soils; Thermodynamics; Underground construction
• Uncontrolled Terms: Earth movements
• Old TRIS Terms: Geology (Soils); Underground explosions
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00229556
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 15 2004 1:50AM