
Tired Mountain Syndrome - pionerkotik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_mountain_syndrome
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prpl
This was a feature of project gasbuggy (nuclear fracking):
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gasbuggy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gasbuggy)

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3fe9a03ccd14ca5
> _It was part of Operation Plowshare, a program designed to find peaceful
> uses for nuclear explosions._

I don’t know how that would ever be possible.

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hackcasual
Russians used to use nukes to seal leaking gas wells

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m4rtink
Not only that, also seismic sounding and other uses, 115 peaceful nuclear
explosion in total:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_N...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy)

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arkanciscan
Wait; is the mountain releasing radioactivity from the bomb tests, or is the
radioactivity coming from the rock and soil itself? The later is mmuch more
interesting than the former.

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sethammons
And why "tired?" Is that a term for something other than what you feel at the
end of a long day?

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jbattle
Sounds like the rock is riddled through with fractures. Weakening the whole
mountain

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knolax
Is there a difference between "tired" amd "stressed" in this context?

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steanne
the word they're looking for is fatigued

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(material)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_\(material\))

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achamayou
Which is French for tired.

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seph-reed
Does anybody have more details on what these underground nuclear test sites
are like? It seems like the whole thing would just collapse after the first
explosion, and be completely unobservable. And if it was observable, that
seems like it would create problems too.

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parsimo2010
They literally drill a hole into the ground and stick a nuke in it. The
surrounding rock is vaporized, but eventually the pressure and heat is low
enough that the surrounding earth can contain it. You're left with either a
big void in the earth, or if the nuke wasn't buried deep enough the void
collapses and makes a crater on the surface.

You might have thought that there was some giant underground complex, but it's
really just mining equipment drilling a hole and a bunch of sensors strung out
feeding data to recording devices that are a long way away.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_nuclear_weapons_te...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_nuclear_weapons_testing)

Edit: to clarify, they don't reuse holes for repeat testing (that I'm aware
of), they just drill a new one a few miles apart. So a "testing site" is just
a bunch of land that the government owns and is willing to never use it for
anything else.

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aeolis_mons
Sometimes the same hole is reused, though not usually:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_Site](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_Site)

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mstromb
Wow, I am now extremely curious about what the inside of that cave looked
like! But I suppose taking pictures of it wouldn't have really served enough
practical purpose to deal with hauling something back out of the hole, not the
mention the lingering radiation from the previous test would probably
instantly expose any film sent down there.

Still! What does the container for a nuclear explosion look like on the
inside? Is it smooth and glassy? Does molten material drip down and form
stalactites and stalagmites? Does the surface crack as it cools? What color is
everything?

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mncharity
> I am now extremely curious about what the inside of that cave looked like

Here's Project Gnome's: image
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nougat#/media/File:P...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nougat#/media/File:Project_Gnome_nuclear_explosion_-
_salt_dome_cavity.jpg) better color
[https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/1fgvt8/a_perma...](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/1fgvt8/a_permanent_stable_cavity_formed_by_one_of_the/)
video
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFJ2MyWlXgs&t=1442](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFJ2MyWlXgs&t=1442)
report with diagrams
[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4612556](https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4612556)
cross-section
[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/GnomeDiag1024.gif](http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/GnomeDiag1024.gif)

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JeDaYoshi
Everyday you just learn something new.

