Obama sends US nuclear physicists to tackle Gulf oil leak

The US has sent a team of nuclear physicists to help BP plug the catastrophic flow of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico from its leaking Deepwater Horizon well, as the Obama administration becomes frustrated with the oil giant’s inability to control the situation.

The five-man team – which includes a man who helped develop the first hydrogen bomb in the 1950s – is the brainchild of Steven Chu, President Obama’s Energy Secretary.

He has charged the men with finding solutions to stop the flow of oil. President Obama yesterday promised a “relentless” effort to resolve the problem as he criticised the “cozy relationship” BP and other oil companies have with US regulators in Washington.

The five men visited BP’s main crisis centre in Houston earlier this week, along with Mr Chu, and are to continue to work with the company’s scientists and external advisers to reach an answer.

President Obama accused BP and its contractors of “falling over each other to point the finger of blame at someone else,” while adding “the potential devastation to the Gulf Coast, its economy and its people require us to continue our relentless efforts to stop the leak.”

Thad Allen, a Coast Guard commandant, said that the slick “has the potential to be catastrophic.”

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