Researcher reveals his plan to save the planet by detonating a nuclear bomb on the ocean floor
Andy Haverly aims to save Earth by using a 1960s project to extract geological materials from the ocean floor.
In the 1960s, Project Plowshare studied the effects of a nuclear explosion on geological materials on the ocean floor. Now, researcher Andy Haverly envisions taking it a step further as he looks for a way to save the planet.
The positive effect of a nuclear explosion in the ocean
By pulverizing the basalt that makes up the seabed, such an explosion could accelerate carbon sequestration, which captures and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce climate change, through a process known to scientists as Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW).
Project Plowshare was a U.S. program initiated in 1957 to explore the use of nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. The idea was to use nuclear detonations for large-scale earth-moving projects, such as creating ports, canals, and highways. One notable test was the 1962 “Sedan” shot, which created a massive crater.
Project Sedan, a Plowshare Program test, left quite the mark! 😲
— Atomic Museum (@AtomicMuseum) January 29, 2024
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created The Plowshare Program, in June 1957, to explore the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Project Sedan became the 2nd and largest Plowshare experiment. pic.twitter.com/tdn7nnvQcC
However, the project faced significant public opposition due to the environmental and health risks associated with radioactive fallout. This opposition, along with the limited practical success of the tests, led to the program’s termination in 1977.
Where would the nuclear bomb be detonated?
Now, according to Haverly’s calculations, he wants to bury a nuclear device, a classic hydrogen bomb, under the Kerguelen Plateau in the Southern Ocean, at a depth of two to three miles in the basalt-rich seabed and about four to five miles below the water’s surface.
The explosion would be contained within the water, and the basalt should absorb and trap most of the radiation locally.
The negative effect of a nuclear explosion in the ocean
The researcher predicts “few or no loss of life due to the immediate effects of radiation.” However, there’s a caveat. In the long term, he acknowledges that the explosion will “impact people and cause losses.” Nevertheless, this increase in radiation would be, according to Haverly, “just a drop in the ocean.”
Considering that “each year we emit more radiation from coal-fired power plants and have already detonated over 2,000 nuclear devices,” would one more make a huge diffeence? Especially as climate change is expected to threaten 30 million lives by the year 2100.
Original article written by Laura Martín Sanjuan, translated with the assistance of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.
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