Re: Atom powered train

Yep, people had all kinds of ideas for non-combat use of nuclear weapons.
I remember reading of a theory to nuke a large hurricane, but even back then, the models they worked up determined that even a 10-MT nuke at around 5,000 feet wouldn't do squat against even a small hurricane.


mikado19 Wrote:
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> In the 60s, the Atomic Energy Commission set up
> Operation Plowshare, which spent $770 million over
> the next decade and a half studying the use of
> nukes for infrastructure projects. Their ideas ran
> from nuking a new Panama Canal to creating a new
> harbor in Alaska. It began with the Santa Fe
> Railway Company, which wanted a straighter and
> flatter path through the Bristol Mountains. The
> new route would require either a 2-mile long
> tunnel or cuts 500 feet deep into the
> mountain—far too expensive for the railroad on
> its own. It did, however, pique the interest of
> the Atomic Energy Commission, which was searching
> for peacetime uses for nukes.
>
> Check out
> [gizmodo.com]-
> 23-nuclear-bombs-to-blas-1638145994
>
> Mike "Mikado" Anderson

-Lee

Flickr photo set of my On30 layout