for a separate video idea that didn't end up going anywhere,

為一個單獨的視頻想法，但最終沒有走到哪裡。

but while I was researching I found a completely different report,

但當我在研究時，我發現了一個完全不同的報告。

secret and restricted when it was written but now unclassified,

寫作時是祕密和限制性的，但現在是非保密的。

and it's the first time in a long while that I've read some old archive file

這是我很久以來第一次閱讀一些舊的檔案文件

and my jaw has literally dropped. It was called:

而我的下巴真的掉了下來。它被稱為。

"Possible Sites for Completely Contained Nuclear Explosions in North Yorkshire."

"北約克郡可能發生完全封閉的核爆炸的地點"。

North Yorkshire is a beautiful area that includes two national parks.

北約克郡是一個美麗的地區，包括兩個國家公園。

This is the middle of one of them.

這是其中一個的中間部分。

It is stunning, it is historic, it is not somewhere that I'd

它是驚人的，它是歷史性的，它不是我想去的地方。

expect anyone to try and set off a nuclear explosion.

指望任何人試圖引爆核爆炸。

The report was written in June 1969, so just for context,

該報告寫於1969年6月，所以只是為了說明情況。

we're talking full Space Race, white-heat-of-technology era.

我們說的是完全的太空競賽，白熱化的技術時代。

Neil Armstrong would set foot on the moon only about a month after that report was written.

尼爾-阿姆斯特朗將在這份報告寫完後一個月才踏上月球。

And the report is talking about Peaceful Nuclear Explosions.

而報告中說的是和平核爆炸。

Which was an idea that was in fashion

這是一個正在流行的想法

among some nuclear scientists and policy makers at the time.

在當時的一些核科學家和政策制定者中。

Maybe, the theory went, we could create artificial harbours and canals

也許，理論上講，我們可以創造出人工港口和運河

using nuclear bombs.

使用核彈。

No more years of mechanical digging,

不再有多年的機械挖掘。

just put a few well-placed nukes in the ground and, boom, boom, boom,

只要在地面上放幾顆位置良好的核彈，然後，轟，轟，轟。

there's your new canal.

這是你的新運河。

Or maybe we could help stimulate production in gas wells,

或者，我們可以幫助刺激氣井的生產。

basically nuclear fracking.

基本上是核裂變。

Or, and this was charitably the most practical idea,

或者說，這是最實際的想法，也是慈善的想法。

create enormous underground cavities for gas storage,

創造巨大的地下空洞來儲存天然氣。

instead of having to use big above-ground tanks.

而不是必須使用大型地上水箱。

The US did run a couple of dozen nuclear tests like that

美國確實進行了幾十次這樣的核試驗

under the rather Biblical title "Operation Plowshare".

在 "犁鏵行動 "這個相當符合聖經的標題下。

The Soviet Union eventually ran more than 200.

蘇聯最終運行了200多個。

But those are stories that have already been told by a lot of other people.

但這些都是已經被很多人講過的故事。

By the 1970s, the US and the Soviets would work out that it was a bad idea:

到1970年代，美國和蘇聯會發現這是一個壞主意。

if you use a nuke, either for fracking, or to create underground gas storage,

如果你使用核彈，要麼用於壓裂，要麼用於創建地下氣體儲存。

the radiation ends up contaminating the gas.

輻射最終會汙染氣體。

But until that was figured out... well, I don't think many people

但在這一點被弄清楚之前......嗯，我不認為很多人

have actually noticed the records about it since it was declassified,

實際上，自從它被解密以來，已經注意到了關於它的記錄。

but it turns out at least some people in the UK were interested as well.

但事實證明，至少在英國也有一些人感興趣。

Those people worked at the Gas Council, and the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment,

這些人在天然氣委員會和原子武器研究機構工作。

and the report shows that they were seriously trying to work out

而報告顯示，他們正在認真努力解決

if nuclear bomb gas storage caverns were a good idea.

如果核彈氣體儲存洞是一個好主意。

I kept researching, and found they'd commissioned a full study,

我繼續研究，發現他們已經委託進行了全面的研究。

laying out the pros and cons, comparing the cost to other methods of storage.

闡述優點和缺點，將成本與其他存儲方法進行比較。

They had picked a site.

他們已經選定了一個地點。

Which was here.

這是在這裡。

Actually, literally, exactly there, bottom of that ravine.

實際上，從字面上看，正是在那裡，那條峽谷的底部。

Wheeldale, in the middle of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

惠爾代爾，位於北約克郡荒野國家公園的中部。

The plan was: buy all the land for about a mile around.

計劃是：買下週圍約一英里的所有土地。

Drill down 2,000 feet, about 600 metres,

向下鑽探2000英尺，約600米。

with a special extra-wide drill bit,

用一個特殊的超寬鑽頭。

big enough so they could drop a 25 kiloton nuclear bomb

足夠大，所以他們可以投下25千噸的核彈

down to the bottom of the hole.

下到孔的底部。

I say "drop". Lower.

我說 "下降"。低一點。

That's a big enough bomb to annihiliate a city in the open air.

那是一個足夠大的炸彈，可以在露天殲滅一個城市。

Plug up the hole, cover the top so nothing comes out, hopefully.

堵住洞口，蓋住頂部，這樣就沒有東西出來了，希望如此。

Evacuate the thousand or so people who live nearby, just in case.

疏散住在附近的一千多人，以防萬一。

And then... boom.

然後......轟隆一聲。

Not much would happen on the surface.

表面上不會發生什麼。

There'd be a bit of a jolt and a rumble, a few birds startled into the air.

會有一點顛簸和隆隆聲，有幾隻鳥被驚飛到空中。

The local towns of Pickering and Whitby, about ten miles away each,

當地的皮克林鎮和惠特比鎮，距離各約10英里。

they'd feel a minor earthquake,

他們會感覺到一場小地震。

and maybe a couple of buildings would get a few small cracks in them.

而且也許有幾座建築會出現一些小裂縫。

I'm not kidding, that's what the report actually says,

我不是在開玩笑，這就是報告的實際內容。

it just phrases it a little bit more delicately than that.

它只是把它表述得比這更微妙一點。

It's not clear whether the locals would actually have been told what was going on,

目前還不清楚當地人是否真的會被告知發生了什麼。

but I think it would have been impossible to hide.

但我認為這將是不可能隱藏的。

After that, they would let the giant cavern that had been created 600 metres down

之後，他們會讓在600米以下創造的巨大洞穴

cool for a few months, and then flush out and remove

冷卻幾個月，然後衝出並移除

most of the radioactive stuff that was left behind,

遺留的大部分放射性物質。

which it turns out would have been a lot more difficult than

事實證明，這將是一個更困難的事情。

they thought at the time.

他們當時認為。

Finally, they'd put some pumping equipment in here at the top, and presto,

最後，他們在這裡的頂部放了一些抽水設備，然後就可以了。

giant underground high-pressure gas storage tank for relatively not much money.

巨大的地下高壓儲氣罐，相對來說花不了多少錢。

And after a couple of years, they can sell most of this land back.

而在幾年後，他們可以把這些土地的大部分賣回來。

Cost of the explosion, in today's money, adjusted for inflation: about nine million pounds.

爆炸的成本，以今天的貨幣計算，經通貨膨脹調整後：約900萬英鎊。

Which is... not actually bad for a giant gas storage tank?

這......對於一個巨大的儲氣罐來說，其實並不壞？

I suspect that was a very optimistic estimate, though.

但我懷疑這是個非常樂觀的估計。

Even that was more expensive than setting up liquid natural gas storage above ground,

即使是這樣，也比在地面上建立液體天然氣儲存的成本要高。

but once you've the made the cavern, it's much cheaper to run this way.

但一旦你做了洞穴，這樣運行就會便宜得多。

If, that is the explosion works as predicted. And if there's really no radiation left over.

如果，也就是爆炸的效果和預測的一樣。而且如果真的沒有輻射殘留。

There were a lot of risks.

有很多風險。

Now, as far as I can tell,

現在，據我所知。

this never got anywhere near the Prime Minister's desk,

這一點從未接近總理的辦公桌。

there was never some high-up government meeting trying to work out whether they should

從來沒有什麼高級別的政府會議，試圖解決他們是否應該

nuke a bit of a national park.

用核彈炸掉一點國家公園。

I suspect it would have been a very bad political decision.

我懷疑這將是一個非常糟糕的政治決定。

And a very bad environmental decision. And a very bad financial decision.

這也是一個非常糟糕的環境決定。也是一個非常糟糕的財務決定。

And... look, I'm sure there is some possible alternate history where this happened,

而且......聽著，我相信有一些可能的另類歷史，在那裡發生了這種情況。

but things would need to have been very different.

但事情需要有很大的不同。

The last reference I could find is from November 1969.

我可以找到的最後一個參考資料是1969年11月的。

The plan was worked out in theory, and the minutes of the meeting from then

該計劃是在理論上制定的，而當時的會議記錄

say that "further thought would be given to what action should follow".

說 "將進一步考慮應採取什麼行動"。

And at some point, in some other record that I missed,

而在某些時候，在其他一些我錯過的記錄中。

or maybe that is still restricted,

或者，也許這仍然是限制性的。

I'm sure there'll be a note that says they decided not to pursue the idea.

我相信會有一個說明，說他們決定不追求這個想法。

Peaceful nuclear explosions would eventually be banned by treaty,

和平的核爆炸最終將被條約禁止。

conveniently just after the point at which the US and Russia

恰好是在美國和俄羅斯的合作點之後

found out they weren't a great idea.

發現他們並不是一個好主意。

And the North Yorkshire Moors, thankfully, were never nuked.

值得慶幸的是，北約克郡沼澤地從未被核爆。