Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The United States's Bedrock nuclear test series [1] was a group of 27 nuclear tests conducted in 1974–1975. These tests [ note 1 ] followed the Operation Arbor series and preceded the Operation Anvil series.
Patents issued in the 1970s [1] indicate that U.S. scientists had planned to use nuclear power to liquefy lithium metal and circulate it to the front of the machine (drill). An onboard nuclear reactor can permit a truly independent subterrene, but cooling the reactor is a difficult problem. [2]
One of the boring machines used for the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom. A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. Tunnels are excavated through hard rock, wet or dry soil, or sand, each of which requires specialized technology.
Underground nuclear testing is the test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient depth, the nuclear explosion may be contained, with no release of radioactive materials to the atmosphere.
Apr. 14—It's been almost 80 years since the first atomic bomb was detonated, and scientists say there's still much to learn about how nuclear devices function as they reach the point of exploding.
Tunnel Construction. Tunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock. The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground conditions, the ground water conditions, the length and diameter of the tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel excavation, the final use and shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk management.
Before the advent of tunnel boring machines (TBMs), drilling and blasting was the only economical way of excavating long tunnels through hard rock, where digging is not possible. Even today, the method is still used in the construction of tunnels, such as in the construction of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel .
[19] [needs update] The basic concept involves identifying a large, stable geological formation and using mining technology to excavate a deep tunnel or shaft using tunnel boring machines, between 500–1,000 metres (1,600–3,300 ft) below the surface, where rooms or vaults can be created for the disposal of radioactive waste. The aim is to ...