Not a bomb to stop tsunamis. A bomb to create them.
The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the
doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs
were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at
Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.
The plans came to light during research by a New
Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files
buried in the national archives
"Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might
have been tsunami-ing people," said Mr Waru. "It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the
idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami ... and
also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree
that it might have worked."
The Soviet Union embarked on a parallel project. It's hard to find details of any consequence, but Sakharov apparently designed an enormous nuclear powered torpedo that was designed to deliver a payload that did the same thing. The project was called the T-15, and ultimately proved unworkable.
ReplyDeleteWow! I lived in Whangaparaoa! :) Will have to look into it further....
ReplyDeleteAnd you can report back to the class what you find...
DeleteAh yes, large directional charges arranged and timed just so would probably do the trick. Picture massive claymore-like charges, arranged along a few miles of netting at a certain depth, then simultaneously detonated. A second wave of charges could be setup a mile or so away and timed to detonate as the wave passes in order to add force to the wave. Pretty interesting idea.
ReplyDelete