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Danger of North Sea oil blow-out
Volume 20/Number 3/March i989
Such a method of power generation is obviously dependant upon sufficient waves being present, but is also sensitive to the tidal range. Large variations in sealevel can cause design difficulties and reduced efficiency. The eastern coast of India where the breakwater is to be situated has a tidal range of less than 2 m which will be well within the capacity of the device. The whole southern portion of the Indian coastline has similar tidal ranges and so, if this first development proves successful, other future projects may well materialize. One of the great benefits of such a scheme is that the breakwater had to be built anyway. With increasing development of third world facilities, further projects along similar lines may well materialize, with South America, West Africa, and the Pacific Islands providing possible markets.
Danger of North Sea Oil Blow-out An exploration hole in the North Sea has had to be closed down when penetration of a high-pressure geological formation, almost three miles below the seabed, threatened to blow-out oil and gas and cause a major pollution incident. The well was being drilled from a semi-submersible mobile drilling unit close to the Ekorisk oil and gas production area by Saga Petroleum, Norway's largest independent oil company. When the incident happened valves were closed on the sea-bed blow-out preventer, more than half the crew were
evacuated and the rig was moved 150 m from the well. Further blow-out preventers were to be added while the problem of the high pressure was attended to by pumping heavy mud down the well to seal it. As a precaution a Norwegian ship equipped with oil skimming equipment was sent to the area and if a major spill were to occur plans were being made to close down the nearby Ekofisk field during oil spill cleaning. Norway's marine pollution directorate SFT have used their oil spill prediction model to assess the situation which indicates that if a spill were to occur pollution could spread to the Danish coast.
Nuclear Coolant Dumped in Holy Loch Disclosures made by a recent television programme that United States submarines dumped nuclear coolant into Holy Loch on the west coast of Scotland have aroused strong feelings amongst local residents, environmentalists, and anti-nuclear groups. At present two Scottish bases on the west coast are used by nuclear-powered vessels; Faslane on the Gairloch and the US N a ~ base on Holy Loch. A third base at Coulport on Loch Long is under construction. A US navy submarine captain, who commanded the ballistic missile submarine USS Robert E. Lee during the 1960s, revealed that readioactive primary coolant was discharged as a matter of course into the Holy Loch. This practice of discharging radioactive-contami-
"Well, I'd heard about the Greenhouse Effect and the possible melting of the Polar ice-caps, b u t . . . "
103
Such a method of power generation is obviously dependant upon sufficient waves being present, but is also sensitive to the tidal range. Large variations in sealevel can cause design difficulties and reduced efficiency. The eastern coast of India where the breakwater is to be situated has a tidal range of less than 2 m which will be well within the capacity of the device. The whole southern portion of the Indian coastline has similar tidal ranges and so, if this first development proves successful, other future projects may well materialize. One of the great benefits of such a scheme is that the breakwater had to be built anyway. With increasing development of third world facilities, further projects along similar lines may well materialize, with South America, West Africa, and the Pacific Islands providing possible markets.
Danger of North Sea Oil Blow-out An exploration hole in the North Sea has had to be closed down when penetration of a high-pressure geological formation, almost three miles below the seabed, threatened to blow-out oil and gas and cause a major pollution incident. The well was being drilled from a semi-submersible mobile drilling unit close to the Ekorisk oil and gas production area by Saga Petroleum, Norway's largest independent oil company. When the incident happened valves were closed on the sea-bed blow-out preventer, more than half the crew were
evacuated and the rig was moved 150 m from the well. Further blow-out preventers were to be added while the problem of the high pressure was attended to by pumping heavy mud down the well to seal it. As a precaution a Norwegian ship equipped with oil skimming equipment was sent to the area and if a major spill were to occur plans were being made to close down the nearby Ekofisk field during oil spill cleaning. Norway's marine pollution directorate SFT have used their oil spill prediction model to assess the situation which indicates that if a spill were to occur pollution could spread to the Danish coast.
Nuclear Coolant Dumped in Holy Loch Disclosures made by a recent television programme that United States submarines dumped nuclear coolant into Holy Loch on the west coast of Scotland have aroused strong feelings amongst local residents, environmentalists, and anti-nuclear groups. At present two Scottish bases on the west coast are used by nuclear-powered vessels; Faslane on the Gairloch and the US N a ~ base on Holy Loch. A third base at Coulport on Loch Long is under construction. A US navy submarine captain, who commanded the ballistic missile submarine USS Robert E. Lee during the 1960s, revealed that readioactive primary coolant was discharged as a matter of course into the Holy Loch. This practice of discharging radioactive-contami-
"Well, I'd heard about the Greenhouse Effect and the possible melting of the Polar ice-caps, b u t . . . "
103