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THE BATTALION Page 11
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 43, 1980
U.S. monitors underground Russian
nuclear blasts in oil-rich Siberian field
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Soviet
Union apparently exploded an
underground nuclear device last
| October in an experiment aimed at
I unlocking millions of barrels of oil
| from a giant Siberian oil field, gov-
E eminent geologists say.
[ James W. Clarke of the U.S.
| Geological Survey said such an ex
periment would mean the Soviets
1 are attempting to use nuclear tech-
| nology to turn the Salym oil field in
[the oil-rich Middle Ob region of
[ western Siberia into one of the
[ world s largest petroleum pro
ducers.
Clarke and Jach Rachlin said in the
USGS report Monday that they are
confident a tremor monitored Oct. 4
was caused by an underground nuc
lear explosion. They said an exten
sive network of seismic stations lo
cated the blast in the oil field.
Estimates of oil reserves in the
Salym region are as high as 10 billion
barrels, making it the second most
important oil field in Russia and one
of the 10 largest known in the world.
But despite its great potential,
Clarke said in an interview, the
Soviets have managed to produce
only about 10 million barrels of oil
there because it is in unusually tight
bituminous shales — laminated rock
that started out as mud and clay and
was compacted and hardened over
the ages.
The United States tried under
ground nuclear explosions in 1967
and 1969 in Colorado to release natu
ral gas, but Clarke said instead of
releasing the gas, the detonation sea
led the gas reservoirs.
Oil reservoirs usually are in sand
stone and can flow freely through
spaces between sand grains. In
shales, the oil moves through cracks
Tito 'gradually recovering’
{following amputation of leg
yone
ise n
United Press International
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — An
official medical bulletin said Tuesday
president Jospi BrozTito is “gradual
ly recovering” from the amputation
ofhis left leg to halt to the spread of
gangrene that had threatened the
17-year-old leader’s life.
The general health condition of
President Tito on the second post
operative day is good. Following the
urgical intervention, President Tito
is gradually recovering, ” the bulletin
signed by Tito’p doctors said.
Privately, officials said they are
pleased with Tito’s progress, but
ihey also have noted the psycholo
gical as well as physical shock the
president has suffered.
“The president feels good,” an
jfficial said. “He’s making further
progress although it’s still dangerous
■ust two days after the operation.
I Western diplomats carefully
(Scientists find
pristine cloud
United Press International
PASADENA, Calif. —Astronom-
^ers say for the first time they have
found material known to be un
changed since the beginning of the
universe about 10 billion years ago.
Scientists at Caltech and Universi
ty College London said Sunday that
diffuse clouds of hydrogen may be
pristine material from the beginning
of the universe because they pro
duce only hydrogen absorption lines
and not carbon lines.
Carbon would show the clouds
had been polluted by material
formed after the so-called “Big
Bang” explosion of primeval gases
that began the universe.
The diffuse clouds of hydrogen
will enable scientists to understand
the processes that occurred after the
Big Bang and also will allow a kind of
“cosmic weather report” of condi
tions in space between galaxies, Cal
tech said.
Other astronomers have noted the
existence of the clouds, Caltech said,
but it was thought the clouds were
ejected from quasars rather than
floating independently in space.
The scientists were able to per
form the analyses by using a device
developed with funds from the Un
ited Kingdom Research Council.
noted there were two bulletins on
Monday, apparently to reassure the
country’s 22 million people about
their leader.
He was recuperating in the clinic
al center in the northern city of
Ljubljana where the surgery were
performed.
Some Yugoslavs have emptied
their foreign currency accounts just
in case they are blocked if something
were to happen to Tito, Yugoslav
sources said.
Yugoslavia has a hard currency,
the dinar, and permits its people to
maintain bank accounts in other hard
currencies such as the German
mark, Swiss franc and dollar. Hard
currencies are exchangeable outside
the country of origin.
The sources said some Yugoslavs
with such accounts have discussed
taking their money out and holding it
in cash at home.
A little more than the standard
hoarding of such essentials as flour
and sugar has been going on, but
food shops were still well stocked
and there were few signs of panic.
Tito, a man of iron will whose favo
rite sport is hunting bear, is the only
leader the country has known since
World War II. He has championed
nonalignment and led his country
down its path to socialism in the sha
dow of the Soviet Union.
While the military was officially
announced to have been placed on
“extra vigilance” — just short of full
alert — signs of overt activity on the
part of the armed forces were few
and far between.
Some anti-aircraft cannon capable
of hitting slow planes were posi
tioned at Belgrade airport but there
were few armed soldiers inside the
airport terminal.
Ift
STEVE
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STEVE FORBERT„
JACK RABBIT SUM
The Sweet Love
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ON NEMPEROR RECORDS AND TAPES.
Distributed by CBS Records.
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is scanning the
Southwest Conference
for a cross-section of women
for the upcoming
Back to Campus
September 1980 Issue
For more information call:
David Chan
Aggieland Inn
1502 S. Texas Ave.
713-693-9891
Monday, Jan. 21 through Saturday, Jan. 26
and Clarke said in tight shales, the
cracks close as soon as the oil is
pumped out, thus sealing off the rest
of the oil.
A nuclear detonation in this rock
would create a rubble column
hudreds of feet in diameter. This
could open up a much larger area for
drainage of oil into a well. Clarke
said a large number of explosions
would be needed to extract oil from
the whole field.
He said the Soviets have reported
in scientific literature in the past that
they used underground nuclear ex
plosions to try to dislodge oil in
limestone. But he said there has
been no mention from the Soviets of
a recent experiment.
He said American geologists are
interested in learning of the outcome
of the apparent Soviet experiment.
“We are reporting because it is
such an unusual geological situation
and it has such a huge potential, and
it is a technique which perhaps
should be reconsidered a little
more,” Clarke said.
The blast is believed to have
equaled the explosion of several tens
of kilotons of TNT. It had a magni
tude of 5.4 on the Richter scale.
ffitmCS BO
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6
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quaintances; not just a gang to party with,
but a group to which you’ll have strong
ties and from which lifetime friendships
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Invite you to learn more about sororities and what they can
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For more information, please call:
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