Why don't they use a low yield tactical nuke to seal off the BP oil rig leak?

Answer 1

Before you fix something you've got to understand the well.

The oil is leaking from a wellbore, which is really a pipe that allows oil to flow from an underground deposit at about 13,000 ft to the ocean floor. The oil at present is coming up through the pipe, then passing through the blow out preventer (BOP) stack and escaping through the riser. A cement seal is in place between the casing pipe and formation at least from the ocean floor to part way down the last string of pipe. You don't want to destroy this seal.

I guess the bomb idea is to destroy the BOP and wellhead. Oil would continue to flow without the stack, but the bomb would shake the earth so much that you will break down the cement seal between the pipe and formation, fractured some of rock, and oil will come out from both the pipe and the behind the pipe. I imagine there would be a pile of rubble subsea, from which the gas would make a worm hole followed by easy passage of oil.