The extraction of natural resources is still a difficult and risky business, although it has been going on for a long time. Sometimes major accidents occur during operation. And then, in order to eliminate their consequences, one has to resort to methods no less dangerous than the problem itself. In the Soviet Union, for example, thermonuclear explosions were used to extinguish fires in gas fields.
Burning "spring"
For the first time the gas "torch" was extinguished in this way at the Urtabulak field in Uzbekistan. There, in order to reduce the cost of the process, natural gas was extracted without using blowout equipment. Until a certain time, the work went smoothly. The drillers were lucky on December 1, 1963, when the drill reached a high-pressure gas reservoir and the gas was also saturated with hydrogen sulfide. It took only a few moments for the drill to squeeze out of the well, and a gusher of gas shot up into the sky, almost immediately igniting. The flames were so strong that the oil rig collapsed, and parts of it even melted. The reinforcement that strengthened the edges of the well was quickly destroyed, because of which it expanded and the "torch" became more powerful.
The fire in Urtabulak raged for 1,074 days. The flames rose 70 meters above the ground. Every day the fire “consumed” 12 million cubic meters of fuel, causing enormous damage to the economy. And also flocks of migratory birds burned in it. So that the planes do not suffer the same fate, Urtabulak was marked on flight maps of all crews whose route ran over this area.
Things were no better on earth. The outskirts of the deposit have become a dead desert covered with soot. The roar of fire was like a cannonade. It was impossible to approach the wildfire closer than 200 meters because of the heat. Even the parapet, which the workers bulldozed around it, did not save. Their labor in such truly hellish conditions was a feat in itself.
This is how Kamil Mangushev, a specialist in oil and gas fields, described the disaster zone: “The entire distant part of the valley was smeared with ghostly canopy of haze … From here, the inclined torch went into the sky and was lost somewhere in the haze. Everything that could burn around had burned out long ago. Now it was really a dead red-hot earth. There is no place left for living here."
Promotional video:
Put out in 22 seconds
They tried to extinguish the Urtabulak "torch" by all methods known at that time, they even fired at them from artillery pieces. But it was all in vain. And then the words "underground thermonuclear explosion" sounded.
In the spring of 1966, the idea received government approval. Industrial explosions were already carried out in the Soviet Union: a year earlier, a similar experiment was successfully held in Semipalatinsk. Its purpose was to develop a method for creating artificial reservoirs within the framework of the Chagan project. The design bureau (design bureau) was engaged in this at number 11, now it is the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics.
The general management of the work to eliminate the fire in Urtabulak was entrusted to the already mentioned Kamil Mangusha-u. A number of luminaries of science were also involved in the project - these were the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mstislav Keldysh, academician Mikhail Millionshchikov, director of the Institute of Physics of the Earth Mikhail Sadovsky. Having thoroughly studied the issue, they came to the opinion that blocking the well with the surrounding rock by detonating a thermonuclear charge is the only way to extinguish the Urtabulak torch.
Putting out a fire always requires efficiency, especially if it has been raging for three years. Nevertheless, they carefully prepared for the explosion. Tests were carried out at a special site in the Moscow region. Based on their results, the tilt angle of the adit, the depth optimal for the location of the charge, other conditions and design features of the future operation were determined. The charge was created by employees of the same KB-11 with the help of nuclear physicists. The date - September 30, 1966 - was appointed by members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee under the leadership of the first person of the state - Leonid Brezhnev.
The explosion was carried out exactly on schedule. The efforts of the developers and executors of the project were crowned with success as completely as possible: the rock layers shifted and squeezed the gas wellhead. The Urtabulak torch, which had been blazing for three years, went out 22 seconds after the explosion.
The excellent result was appreciated by the party and the government of the USSR: Kamil Mangushev and his comrades received the State Prize. But the most important thing is that the experience gained was recognized as promising, and it was decided to continue using the detonation of thermonuclear charges to extinguish large fires in gas fields. Simply put, nuclear explosions inside the country were put on stream.
Just a year and a half later, on May 21, 1968, the new method was successfully applied at the Pamuk field in the same place, in the Uzbek SSR. April 11, 1972 - at the Mayskoye field in Turkmenistan. But the next attempt, made on the territory of Ukraine on July 9 of the same year, ended in complete failure.
Nuclear mushroom over Ukraine
In 1970, a rich natural gas field was discovered near the village of Krestishche, located in the Krasno-Gradsky district of the Kharkov region. According to experts, it contained 700 billion cubic meters of blue fuel. Needless to say, its development from the first days was carried out at an accelerated pace: in just a year, 17 drilling rigs appeared here.
The consequences of the haste were not long in coming. The accident occurred in July 1971 while drilling another well. The scenario was standard: on the way of the drill there was a reservoir in which the gas was under pressure of about 400 atmospheres. There was a powerful blowout, which led to the death of two engineers who were on the upper platform of the tower. Over the next day, the drillers tried to eliminate the gas fountain in vain. Making sure that this was not possible, they set fire to the well, thereby eliminating the possibility of an accidental fire that could lead to an explosion.
The fire rose several tens of meters in height. The mouth of the well gradually widened, and the remains of the drilling complex were slowly drawn into it. The surrounding landscape more and more resembled that observed in Uzbekistan several years ago. But it was a densely populated area. For example, the small village of Pershotravnevoe was only half a kilometer from the scene. Its 400 residents watched the "torch" for a whole year, until the decision was made at the top to apply the Urtabulak experience for the fourth time.
The preparation lasted four months. However, this time more attention was paid to ensuring secrecy, rather than analyzing the composition of the soil and other parameters of the Krestishchenskoye field. The object was guarded by the KGB troops and the Moscow police. All participants signed a nondisclosure agreement for a period of 15 years. None of the local security officials or employees of military units stationed on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR were involved in the operation.
By July 9, 1972, all preparatory work had been completed. An hour before the start, the water and electricity supply was turned off. Residents of Pershotravnevoy were sent to the village of Krestishche, two kilometers from the epicenter of the fire.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the thermonuclear charge was activated. The result, as before, appeared in a few seconds. But what a result it was! The torch was still burning, but a crater formed around it, from which a fountain of gas and rock burst out. Rising into the sky, he took on the characteristic form of a nuclear mushroom. The content of this cloud matched the shape. About 40 thousand local residents were exposed to radioactive contamination that day.
However, they were not informed about this. And the population of Pershotravnevoy returned home after only half an hour after the unsuccessful experiment.
A few months later the fire was extinguished by one of the well-known proven methods - by digging a well. The only plus of what happened at the Krestishchenskoye field can be considered the termination of the use of the risky and expensive method of extinguishing gas "torches" with directed underground nuclear explosions. However, popular rumor connects this not with concern for the health and safety of citizens of the Soviet Union, but with the intervention of the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Rocket Waxes of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Vladimir Tolubko, who came from the affected Krasnograd district of the Kharkiv region.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №25. Author: Svetlana Yolkina