Matthew Simmons of Ocean Energy Institute was on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.

[Ilsa]

He said the well casings in the bore are gone. Relief wells won't work. He said at 60,000psi (which this well is estimated to be at), only a low level nuclear explosion will work to seal this well, which is estimated to have tapped into the largest reserve in the Gulf of Mexico.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Gene Ray is on the internet.

He says four-sided harmonic time cube.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. o...mi...gawd!!!!!!

[Poll_Blind]

3. Son of a bitch. I've been wondering privately if the second relief well is for a nuke.

If we commandeer everyfuckingthing in the Gulf to start drilling more holes into this, try to tap it and bleed off that pressure as quickly (read: months) as possible...and I mean everything we can get...

This nuke idea is motherfucking lunatic.

PB

[Ilsa]

7. Yeah, it is. It's scary shit. I hope the two relief wells

work as you say, to bleed off the pressure so they can cap it someway.

[mmonk]

4. Oh boy.

:-(

[WeDidIt]

5. So what does this guy know about nuclear phsics?

Oh yeah, that's right.

Nothing.

[Ilsa]

6. He doesn't claim to know nuclear physics. He is just saying that a

relief well will be like pouring soap suds down the hole. The well casing is gone. Plugging it won't work, per this guy.

[WeDidIt]

16. Okay, he's one guy, and well informed about geology

But he also has no clue what the effects on the ocean floor would be of a nuclear blast at that depth.

So for him to suggest such a thing in seriousness is irresponsible and calls into question his ability to make responsible suggestions.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. "well informed about geology"

I think you're giving him too much credit.

[JackRiddler]

8. Presumably more than you do about logic.

[WeDidIt]

9. HE has no fucking clue what the consequences would be

So my logic holds.

[girl gone mad]

10. It's physics.

and I don't think you need to be a nuclear physicist to weigh in on the subject. Engineers and marine geologists are surely better equipped to make an assessment.

[WeDidIt]

12. I do. HEre's why

The consequences of attempting such a thing simply will not be understood by anybody who has not worked out the physics.

[girl gone mad]

29. Which doesn't require a degree in nuclear physics.

Classical mechanics is enough.

[eShirl]

28. it's times like this I really miss Richard Feynman

[Smashcut]

13. Simmons knows more about oil geology than you could ever hope to know.

I don't know if a nuclear blast would work but I believe him about everything else.

[WeDidIt]

15. YEt he knows precisely nothing about the physics of a nuclear blast

And that's the missing half of knowing what will happen if such an option is used more than a mile under the sea.

[Johonny]

18. dude he's head of a think tank! those guys are never wrong

frankly me not so impressed by the shear number of unaccredited experts the media keeps dragging out to scare the public on the left and the right.

[Catherina]

21. And you do? Thanks for the laugh n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. Matthew Simmons is an investment banker.

Probably knows shitall about geology.

[spanone]

11. try to fix one disaster with another....

[Poll_Blind]

17. +1

PB

[TexasObserver]

14. Ignore anyone who uses the word "nuclear" in regard to this.

They'll drill relief wells until one works.

[TheKentuckian]

23. You sure that still will work if they've lost the well and especially

If there are fissures spreading?

You certain under those conditions that there isn't a limit on the attempts before the odds go off the meter that a total rupture happens?

I don't think it sounds like the relief wells are a 100% solution and it also sounds like there are serious concerns about the stability of the sea bed in the area of the well.

I don't know about nukes but we might need to at least consider that the usual methods might not work and that the situation is much more dire than has generally been let on.

[TexasObserver]

24. I'm CERTAIN we'll never explode a nuke in the gulf for this.

It's relief wells until one works.

I know about the fissures, which is why I say only a relief well will work.

There is no one with any credibility talking about using nukes.

[TheKentuckian]

26. I'm nowhere near buying a nuclear option but I am saying relief wells may not work

and that means something outside the box will be required.

I also have to say based on past performance on this situation that Simmons has been MUCH more credible than the administration or BP.

[Catherina]

22. Is there a video or transcript?

I've been trying to get more information on what he says.

Here is what he said back in May (per wiki)

On May 26, 2010, Matthew Simmons was a guest on 'The Dylan Ratigan Show' on MSNBC, where he explained his reasons for believing that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill involved not only the leak being monitored by British Petroleum's video-camera-equipped ROVs , but another, much bigger leak, several miles away:

SIMMONS: ...when you look at the riser , you realize that you're looking at a twenty-one-and-a-half inch circumference riser, and there looks like somewhere between a six and seven inch rip on the top. So the stuff coming out -- it looks like a lot, but I actually saw a white fish go through it and come out white. So I said, this isn't the same as this brown, gooey, orange stuff that they found in the plume seven miles away. And I still believe that what happened is that the riser blew off the wellhead, and it's hooked onto the rig; so you've got a mile of oil inside that that's pretty light concentrate. So that's what they're actually trying to get out. So it's not sure that -- luckily they placed the top kill correctly. But now they have to see if it will take mud. It probably will take mud. But then they shouldn't delude themselves that they've stopped the spill; they should now go and say, 'Let's figure out what the plume was all about,' because if THAT'S the hole, and the casing blew out, we have an enormous problem.

RATIGAN: ...so you're saying that the video we're all now looking at right now is not the only leak, is that what you're saying?

SIMMONS: That's a tiny leak, and what the scientists are saying watching this stain spread -- it's now bigger, I gather, than Maryland and Delaware, and several hundred feet thick, and it's gooey stuff -- that's NOT coming out of there; they think that it's flowing at 120,000 barrels a day. It would almost have to be that big to flow that wide.

RATIGAN: And where do you believe the second outlet is relative to what we're seeing on the video, Matt?

SIMMONS: What the research vessel found a week ago Sunday was this giant plume about six miles away, and then this huge layer of goo on the ocean floor... that's almost certain- I mean, maybe it's a natural fracture -- I think that's where the wellhead is.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Simmons

[Poll_Blind]

25. Here's a video of the episode the OP refers to:

HERE

I'm just watching it myself now, but this is it, AFAIK.

PB

[Catherina]

30. Thank you PB! n/t

[Catherina]

31. Thank you PB! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. May I interject some hsitory here?

Google Ixtoc... same exact thing happened. Oh and guess what reserve that tapped? You guessed it, the same reserve...

It took a few attempts with relief wells.

Now, not saying that they may not need to start thinking nuclear option, if this is the case, but a nuke will make things even less pretty.

Oh and yes, they managed to stop the flow with the Ixtoc by the way.

[Poll_Blind]

32. Thank you for that info! n/t

PB

[Ganja Ninja]

33. If that's the case then maybe several relief wells will be needed.

One down deep for a conventional explosive charge to disrupt and constrict the flow.
Another above that to vent off pressure.
A third (and possibly more) above that for pumping in mud and concrete.

[Poll_Blind]

34. I agree. It's not like the oil companies can't make money off the deal.

Just suck the pressure down as quickly as possible.

PB

[Ichingcarpenter]

35. Let's Nuke here''s why

Just to prove I'm right or wrong on what will happen



The Nuke makes its own cavern that collapses plus the oil cavern collapses

Now think for a second...........what happens to the water above it?
Well it moves and fills the void....... then what happens to it?

You have displacement which again makes the water react again and that's a huge amount of water we are talking about.

The substratum there is not stable like what was used in Nevada.

The rock closest to the location of the blast is vaporised, forming a cavity. Further away, there are zones of crushed, cracked, and irreversibly strained rock. Following the explosion, the rock above the cavity may collapse, forming a rubble chimney. If this chimney reaches the surface, a bowl-shaped subsidence crater may form.


Within milliseconds, a bubble of high-pressure gas and steam is formed. The heat and expanding shock wave cause the surrounding rock to vaporise, or being melted further away, creating a melt cavity.


The shock-induced motion and high internal pressure cause this cavity to expand outwards, which continues over several tenths of a second until the pressure has fallen sufficiently, to the level equal to the level roughly comparable with the weight of the rock above, and can no longer groW

Although not observed in every explosion, four distinct zones (including the melt cavity) have been described in the surrounding rock.

The crushed zone, about two times the radius of the cavity, consists of rock that has lost all of its former integrity.

The cracked zone, about three times the cavity radius, consists of rock with radial and concentric fissures.

Finally, the zone of irreversible strain consists of rock deformed by the pressure. The following layer undergoes only an elastic deformation; the strain and subsequent release then forms a seismic wave


IS THIS SOUNDING GOOD?

Now the oil cavern collapses in addition to the one formed by the nuke.


BOY THIS GETTING TO BE FUN NOW!!!


All that water ...... and it starts to move...... now which way does it go?

It is after all radioactive..... you have a Tsunami on your hands heading around the Gulf.

It really doesn't even have to be a large one to do damage to the costal areas.


LETS DO IT!!!!

[Ganja Ninja]

36. Not that I'm promoting the nuke option because I think it won't be needed but ...

There's at least 2 miles of rock between the sea floor and the oil reservoir. Presumably the nuke will be placed deep within the rock structure. Not close enough to disrupt the sea floor at the wellhead. They want to plug the hole at the bottom so they have enough room left after that to pump in concrete and seal the well. They aren't going to blow up the top of the well.