Nuclear testing question

[Stavros]

Do any of you with an interest in science know what impact the USA's underground nuclear testing in Nevada had on the sub-surface environment? How deep were the detonations, and could they have had an impact on tectonic plates?

[hippifried]

Not deep enough or powerful enough to effect the plates for the most part. The big test, up in the outer Aleutians, caused some problems & trepidations. At just under 5 megatons, it had a seismic reading of 7.0, & there were aftershocks. No majpor quakes or tsunamis though. It was close to the surface. We're talking about shafts going down 1,000 to maybe 2,000 feet. Average earthquake is around 10 miles deep.

[Stavros]

Thanks for the clarification on this.

[w1s2x3]

Do any of you with an interest in science know what impact the USA's underground nuclear testing in Nevada had on the sub-surface environment? How deep were the detonations, and could they have had an impact on tectonic plates?

Probably nothing. There was a 10 megaton test in the Aleutians and there is a documentary that has video of the 10 megaton test and other tests. The land movement in the test is spectacular. the coast line is raised 3 feet! The Soviets exploded a 50 megaton open air bomb. They wanted to explode a 100 megaton bomb.

I'm more worried about why and how nuclear power plants get built on the ocean and in fault areas. You have to wonder who got beat up in that meeting about those issues and did they end up flipping burgers for a living?
The expense of not building a foolproof reactor is yet to be calculated, but we are trying.

Optimistically, the Soviet and China underground testing should have canceled out our underground testing - lol!