On 11 May 2020 at 13:43, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:

> Two questions:
>
> Does the spherical blast cavity change shape if there are disparate
> rock densities like there would be many places on Earth?

Might, might not. Again look up the Project Plowshare reports.

And as I noted, you get a spherical cavity with a pool of molten rock
at the bottom. Then the celining collapses giving you a "flat" bottom
with a cylindrical area leading up to a hemispherical top.

> In Traveller, if you had the tech, couldn't you use nukes in
> conjunction with dampers aligned to sculpt the cavity shape?

Doubt it. Dampers "merely" accelerate or retard the rate of decays
(and fission). So the bomb would either go off or not. Once it goes
off there's nothing nuclear about what follows.

X-rays (90% or more of the energy is released as x-Rays) get absorbed
by the rock in a short distance vaporizing the rock and turning it
into superheated plasma that burns/blasts out the spherical cavity.

Rock around the cavity is fractured and collapses maming the cavity
shape mentioned above.

It *is* possible to make a blast directional to some extent.

But if you want to sclupt the cavity, I'd use sm,aller blasts or a
meson gun.

--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com