Nuclear bomb possibly found (Unarmed Device dropped in ocean off Georgia during Cold War)

CNN ^ | 9/13/04 | CNN

[gutshot]

Device dropped in ocean off Georgia during Cold War WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Government experts are investigating a claim that an unarmed nuclear bomb, lost off the Georgia coast at the height of the Cold War, might have been found, an Air Force spokesman said Monday.

The hydrogen bomb was lost in the Atlantic Ocean in 1958 following a collision of a B-47 bomber and an F-86 fighter.

A group led by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Duke of Statesboro, Georgia, said in July that it had found a large object underwater near Savannah that was emitting high levels of radioactivity, according to an Associated Press report.

...... Smolinsky said if the bomb were found, a decision would have to be made about whether to try to recover it or leave it where it is. .....

The 7,600-pound, 12-foot-long thermonuclear bomb contained 400 pounds of high explosives as well as uranium.

.....

The United States lost 11 nuclear bombs in accidents during the Cold War that were never recovered, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

An estimated 50 nuclear warheads, most of them from the former Soviet Union, still lie on the bottom of the world's oceans, according to the environmental group Greenpeace. ......

[gutshot]

The Savannah nuclear plant is about 180 miles from Tybee Island. What's your point?

[Bobby777]

there was a bit of experimenting back then wasn't there? ... I've often wondered with the advent of other minaturized nukes what they (we) might have done.

the possibilities are mind-boggling.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Alpha's can't even penetrate the dead skin cell's on your hand. (The alpha particle hits the dead skin cells, the energy gets absorbed in the layer of dead cells, and nothing happens. The cells are already dead.) In other words, you can hold a handful of alpha-emitting material in your hand, and not get irradiated by the alpha particles.

(However: each time an apha particle is created by radioactive decay, some gamma rays are also emitted. Gamma energy varies from very little, to medium, to high. Depends on the isotope. The alpha particles can't touch you, but the gamma's that are also coming out of the material will penetrate your hand. Of course, if they penetrate your hand, they have come out the other side, and so they haven't hurt either!)

BUT - Big BUT - if an alpho-emitting piece of material (even something smaller than a grain of pollen!) gets in the air, then you "might" breathe it in if you are not wearing a dust mask.

IF you breathe in these little particles, THEN, when they decay, ALL of the energy is deposited in the very small area around the very small particle inside your lungs or bones. THAT deposits a lot of energy in the living cells close to the particle, which DOES lead to cancer.

[Calpernia]

Thank you. Your insight is very reassuring!

[COEXERJ145]

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 13 and 22 Kiloton respectively. This puppy is around 3 Megaton.

Yes I know. See my first post in this thread. The device I was talking about being the same as Trinity and Nagasaki was the one used in shot Crossroads-Baker. That reply (post #111) was in response to one of the pictures in post #103.

[Amish with an attitude]

Cerenkov radiation

[RaceBannon]

I'd rather blow it in place...it would be kewel to watch! :)

[Cooter]

Unless you're fishing with a tunnel boring machine, I doubt it!

Let's go!

[Jotmo]

Kinda scary to think now tho that it's emitting radiation.

Not really. Water is an excellent radiation shield. I think the only thing better is lead.

If that thing detonates, you can probably say goodbye to Savannah and most of the GA coast.

Depends on how deep the water is. It’d have to be relatively shallow water to be much of a threat. That’s why they’re more likely to leave it where it is. Bringing it to the surface will negate all the protection the water offers.

[Leatherneck_MT]

The problem is, the point at which it was dropped is in approx. 30 feet of water. That's not a whole lot of shielding against either a blast or radiation.

I definately wouldn't want to fish anywhere near that.

[Jotmo]

Actually, that's plenty of shielding, but no blast protection. You'd have to don SCUBA gear and hug the thing to a bad dose of radiation.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I've heard that a little U₂₃₅ spices up most anything :^)

[Blood of Tyrants]

You are correct. I misread the article. I am no nuclear physics expert, but if I would have to guess, I would estimate the amount of HEU to be between 15 and 25 kilos.

[Zhangliqun]

"Well you and I are in the same boat as far as that goes. But I would have to argue that it's a Bomb and Bombs are designed to explode."

***

Whether you're talking about a plain old general purpose high explosive gravity bomb or a nuclear warhead, if the bomb is not armed, it is physically impossible for it to explode. Like a bow and arrow (since "broken arrow" is the theme), if the bow has no rope/line (or whatever it's called that you pull the arrow back on), you can't shoot the arrow.

A nuclear detonation is also a very precise, complicated, multi-stage process and if anything is even slightly out of alignment, you get a "fizzle", meaning an extremely low yield. In other words, a pile of weapons grade uranium or plutonium laying around will never result in a nuclear detonation. It has to be arranged in a series of explosions that trigger other explosions that gives you the full yield.

The main danger from this bomb is radiation leakage.

Having said all that, though, it is a creepy feeling knowing there's a 3.8 megaton bomb sitting in the mud off the coast of Georgia.

[DTA]

[Constitution Day]

LOL, I wouldn't want to be the one operating it.

[DJ Macaroni]

Whilst I know nothing of the design for this weapon, my expectation is no HEU on board at all. Why waste HEU when you've got a Pu core? The U in use as a tamper is essentially "inert" so far as the reaction goes - it's just used to hold the core together during assembly.

[Recovering Hermit]

...(according to the report, its removing from ocean would last 5 years and would cost to US budget 23 million dollars). The bomb reposes under 6-metre thickness of water, buried in sand at a depth of 5 metres.

Is it just me, or does this not quite sound right. 6 meters of water and 5 meters of sand sure doesn't seem all that difficult to get to.

Why would this take 5 years and 23 million bucks?

[CyberAnt]

Thank you RA .. I knew somebody with more smarts than me would be able to tell me what was really going on.

I have to trust ya on this one, because it would make me very nervous to live in GA and know a nuke is right out my window in the ocean.

Because it isn't armed .. what kind of danger is there it would explode ..??

[Calpernia]

If I remember what I read correctly, the one in South Carolina is still there too. I think they continuously do soil tests to check on it.