Lots of ideas have been suggested to plug BP’s oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, but none as incendiary as using a nuclear weapon. And yes, this has actually been tried before in previous petro-calamities.

On today’s Backstory segment we’ll talk to NYU Professor and author of Sun in a Bottle, Charles Seife about the Soviet Union’s experience with Project No. 7, which sought to harness the power of nuclear explosions for public works project, including five atomic blasts aimed at stopping runaway fires in gas wells.