There were in fact two programs : All together , the '' Program 7 '' conducted 115 nuclear explosions . Among them : These explosions were financed by various ministries : 51 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Geology , 26 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Natural Gas , 13 explosions were financed by the Ministry for Oil , 19 explosions were financed by the MinSredMash itself ( the predecessor of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency ) . There were two large explosions of 140 kilotons and 105 kilotons ; all others were relatively small with an average yield of 12.5 kilotons . For example , one 30 kiloton explosion was used to close the Uzbekistan '' Urtabulak '' gas well in 1966 that had been blowing since 1963 , and a few months later a 47 kiloton explosive was used to seal a higher pressure blowout at the nearby '' Pamuk '' gas field , successful experiments later cited as possible precedents for stopping the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy