Watchdog: Firm nearly detonated nuke bomb (1.2 megaton bomb near Amarillo)

Arizona Daily Star | Cox News Service ^ | 12/15/06 | Jeff Nesmith

[COEXERJ145]

also there seems to be a security leak...

Nothing new about that in this day and age.

[Enosh]

The Project on Government Oversight

www.pogo.org is somewhat biased in their views.

[buccaneer81]

Yeah, I tend to question this as well. A nuke just don't go BOOM because someone beats on it, kicks it, or worse. Fully armed nuclear weapons have survived impact with the ground when accidentally released from tens of thousands of feet and none every went nuclear.

Quite right. The high explosive trigger (which may be several tens of pounds, if not hundreds) is the real danger.

[operation clinton cleanup]

The organization said it was told by unidentified experts who were "knowledgeable about this event" that the accident, in which an unsafe amount of pressure was applied to the warhead, could have caused the device to detonate.

I would like to wait until all the facts come in.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Another Clinton legacy...

[Pontiac]

RElated article.

Last W56 Minuteman Warheads Dismantled, (June 29, 2006)

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/27-06292006-677660.html


The Energy Department said Thursday it has completed dismantling the last W56 warhead that for 30 years, beginning in the early 1960s, was the deadly core of the Minuteman I, and later the updated Minuteman II long-range missile.

"Dismantling the last W56 warhead shows our firm commitment to reducing the size of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile to the lowest level necessary for national security needs," said Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

[LibWhacker]

Yes, highly doubtful, I agree. Also telling that few media outlets have run with it, despite being liberal as he**.

[lesser_satan]

I smell bullsh!t. They don't just "go off".

[gcruse]

""Pantex"... that's some woman-thing, right?"

It, and Amarillo, are located in the Texas panhandle. You decide.

[Andy from Beaverton]

[Strategerist]

What was meant by "detonate" was likely the HE trigger going off, not the whole thing detonating, I'm sure.

[rlmorel]

I agree with some other posters. I would consider the source, and this looks like BS.

[Leisler]

'..workers applied too much pressure to the device and a safety mechanism failed to work.

Everybody knows you got to soak the hell out of'em.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

In light of difficulties with stuck threads on the W56 warhead radiation case, the staff reviewed the W56 WSS for historical data that could provide insight on this problem. This review was augmented by observations of the staff and the Board’s outside expert of interactions between the W56 Project Team and Y-12 staff with expertise in bimetallic joints. The surveillance history summary in the WSS provides a list of Unsatisfactory Reports and SFIs and states that none of these were safety-related. This summary fails to disclose a worker safety issue related to a fire hazard that is documented in the Y-12 hazard analysis and could be relevant to safety at the Pantex Plant.

Given that the W56 was in the stockpile for more than 25 years, one would expect a historical overview of the type and characteristics of the tooling used during the life of the program. Archival information of this nature would have been helpful in safety reviews of the modern tooling developed under the SS-21 process for W56 dismantlement. In addition, any SFI reports of operational difficulties related to the bimetallic joint would have provided additional insight, even if they had not been classified as safety-related when they were written. Finally, a more thorough effort to document the experiences of Pantex Production Technicians would have been helpful in identifying potential pitfalls.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/w56.htm

[Frank_2001]

"and it will not explode with other than he non-nuclear high explosive in the weapon."

Of course, if you carelessly toss a lit cigarette and it hits that non-nuclear high explosive...;)

[boomop1]

Unidentified kind of sums it up, my BS detector just went off.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

Here's the problem

The Project On Government Oversight
A non-partisan non-profit government watchdog whose mission is to investigate, expose, and remedy abuses of power, mismanagement, and government ...
www.pogo.org/ - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

[kittycatonline.com]

Nope, Pantex is the only one left. You can thank Bill Clinton for that.

Yeah, but think of the benefits! If they are the only shop left, you don't have to worry about that "Oh, we were really looking for somebody with more experience" line when applying for that Nuclear Bomb Dismantler job."

[operation clinton cleanup]

I was a AMMO troop in the Air Force and was trained on EDM. Setting off a warhead by accident is NOT possible!

[Ben Mugged]

Of course, if you carelessly toss a lit cigarette and it hits that non-nuclear high explosive

Actually you can set this stuff on fire and it will just burn with an oily smoke. If you cover it however with anything, like sand or your foot, it will explode and leave quite a large hole in the ground and spread pieces of you over a large piece of landscape.