HackerTube.dev

Schaliegas: USSR Gas Well Blow Out = Nuclear Bomb Puts Out Fire

Stop Schaliegas · 252.4K views · 2014-05-14 · 3:49

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A short clip showing how the Soviet Union used a nuclear explosion to extinguish a blown-out, burning gas well.

On Hacker News

HN cites it as evidence that small underground nuclear devices were used to stop well fires and leaks.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2020–2021

Topics

Earth & energy (other)Military history & warfareWorld history
Search by tags
soviet uniongas wellnuclear explosionwell firehistory

What people said

ortusdux · 2021-12 · Reference

Re: the first paragraph's reference to nuking the Deepwater horizon's oil leak, Soviet engineers demonstrated that this was a viable technique back in the 60's. Plenty of wild non-war applications have been proposed for nuclear bombs over the years, but this is the only one I can think of that is actually somewhat of a good idea. Any fallout is minor and contained under 1km+ of bedrock, and the harm prevented is worth the cost. I am surprised that the author dismisses it so rapidly. [LINK] [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
chx · 2020-08 · Reference

Small underground nuclear bombs were used to put out well fires. [LINK] [VIDEO] A few ten megaton bomb would create a very small earthquake, quite probably only detectable by instruments. You'd need to wade into millions-ten of millions of megatons to create an extinction event.

Read the original HN comment ↗
bori5 · 2020-02 · Reference

In a similar vein there’s a story and YouTube video of Russians plugging an out of control burning oil well with a small nuke. Edit. It was a gas well here’s the link [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Stop Schaliegas, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources