BP has been trying all kinds of reactionary methods to seal the oil well for almost 50 days, from 100-ton domes to blasting mud and joining agents into the drill pipe. New evidence sufaced last week that in the old Soviet Union, nuclear devices were detonated deep underground to seal unruly gas wells. Of the five detonations attempted, four successfully sealed the gas leak.

However the Obama administration was quick to dismiss the rumors that a nuke might be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, claiming any nuclear detonation would violate a signed arms treaty.

On the flip-side, Martin Dudziak, of Tetradyn, has proposed a method to halt the flow of oil into the Gulf called 'Bottom Seal', which is gaining some momentum in Florida, as people heap more pressure on BP to stem the flow of oil before marine habitats are destroyed indefinitely.

Martin theorizes the science behind 'Bottom Seal' below:

Bottom Seal is proposed as a practical and safe method to "melt and reseal" the immediate layer of sea floor rock in order to safely and permanently seal the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. It could be employed as a general method for similar needs in other well failures as well as natural disasters of comparable type. The process involves the use of an intense burst of energy at but not below the sea floor, the purpose of which is to vaporize, melt, soften and compress a sufficiently deep layer of rock (in single-digit meters) such that, upon cooling and hardening by the influx of seawater and cooling from beneath, there will be a Shield Layer that has totally closed off the well, capping it with solid rock, sealing all points of leakage, and rendering the flow of crude oil and other hydrocarbons to zero.

The Bottom Seal technical approach is based upon a unique and safe application of a small, low-yield (single-digit kiloton) nuclear detonation and also incorporates the use of a "virtual containment vessel" created by high-pressure water mass compressed inwards upon the volume of the intensified at-seafloor nuclear detonation. The result will accentuate the energy and particularly thermal effects within the region of the well leakage channel and also aid the physical containment and reduced dispersion of predictable, expected, but very low quantities of radionuclides.

The use of nuclear devices comparable to low-yield tactical nuclear weapons (and totally unlike major strategic devices) is to provide the precise, intense, localized energy for performing the "melt and seal" phase of work with the sea floor and sub-seafloor rock. The risks of endangerment from truly modest amounts of high-energy radiation and radionuclides to sea life and the human life and lifestyle in and around the Gulf are calculable and will be minimal and far less than the damage already done and being continued by previous and current activities, as well as the risks of failure and subsequent breakdowns from any relief well attempts.

An array of three or four small (very low-yield) nuclear fission devices of equal size (in terms of detonation power) will be placed in position above the Gulf sea floor, some meters above the seafloor, and configured in a planar manner relative to a centerpoint which is the open Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well pipe that is currently extending from the sea floor. This configuration is the Melt-and-Seal Detonation Network (MSDN) and it is the only use of nuclear material. No further drilling is involved, and no nuclear explosive devices would be placed (inserted, buried) beneath the sea floor. Furthermore, these nuclear devices are low-yield (meaning, in single-digit kiloton (kT) explosive force) and are not to be confused with massive (100s of kT or even megaton) nuclear explosions that have been conducted as above-ground, shallow-depth, and underground tests in the past.

In addition, Bottom Seal incorporates an array of several (approximately 32) large, multi-kT-equivalent conventional explosive devices that will be placed in a geodesic-like network configuration, providing a type of virtual "tent", at a distance away from the MSDN. This network of military-grade explosives, the Explosive-Force Containment Network (EFCN), is designed to assist in the confinement of both the explosive release of energy, movement of sea water mass, and dispersion of various radionuclides, from the region of the MSDN detonation.

The most critical aspects of conducting Bottom Seal successfully are matters of spatial location of the different MSDN and EFCN components and the timing of their detonations. We can position these devices very accurately through the use of both surface-based and subsurface robotic operations, as has indeed been well-demonstrated by previous undersea engineering work.

When the Bottom Seal operation is conducted, the MSDN devices will provide an intense, concentrated, microseconds-plus burst of energy that will vaporize and consume the relatively thin film of sea water between the MSDN and the DWH sea floor and it will melt and vaporize the seabed including sedimentary material and rock to a depth of several meters. The intensity of the multiple nuclear blasts will aid in deepening and maintaining a molten lava-like rock state for additional meters below the former sea floor surface and the pressures from the post-blast surface region, being on influx of formerly gaseous rock material and steam, followed by hot sea water from above, will aid in ensuring that the molten and (lower still) softened subsurface (but near to the former sea floor) rock will compress, compact, be under extreme pressures comparable to deep mantle pressures; the result will be a smoothly-cooled, ultra-dense, compact, and very solid new layer of rock serving as a solid and impenetrable barrier (ceiling, dome, shield) over the natural rock between the former DWH well-head and the oil deposit regions far below.

There will be a virtually certain "solidity and impenetrability" to the Bottom Seal Shield. The DWH oil leak be sealed and there will not be fissures, cracks, vents, and other weaknesses that may result in future oil leaks from this location. Deepwater Horizon will be sealed, shut, and no longer leaking.

The role of the EFCN is to help contain and maintain pressures of sea water inwardly upon the virtual sphere of the MSDN multi-blast. This is for strengthening the effectiveness of the MSDN and this strengthening also includes the cooling of the MSDN-melted sea floor and subsurface rock, as described above. Secondly, the EFCN will help contain the dispersion of various radionuclides from the region of the MSDN blast. Even without an EFCN "containment vessel" of force and seawater mass, the dispersion of radionuclides from the relatively low-yield MSDN multi-blast would be minimal and not a risk to sea life (including seafood-type fish and shellfish) or humans, not in the near-term nor in the long-term.

After Bottom Seal is executed, there needs to be careful monitoring of the seawater, naturally, but there should be no significant spatial or temporal region where there will be concern about radiation or radionuclides of any form. The greater risks and damages and threats are already present and virtually unavoidable, namely, the effects of so many hydrocarbon compounds dissolved in the Gulf and nearby waters, finding their way into plants and animals and the general chain of the food supply. These are very real and extreme risks to health and safety. In contrast, there should be very negligible risk from the Bottom Seal operation.

There is additional information provided in resources online, particularly at http://tetradyn.com/bottomseal and http://instinnovstudy.org/bottomseal. The latest white paper versions are at http://tetradyn.com/bottomseal/bsswhitepaper.pdf, http://instinnovstudy.org/bottomseal/bsswhitepaper.pdf