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US plane in 1961 'nuclear bomb near-miss'
BBC News ^ | 21st September 2013

Posted on 09/21/2013 1:42:30 AM PDT by Mr Radical

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To: cynwoody

Thanks...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_bunker_buster


61 posted on 09/22/2013 1:56:45 PM PDT by GOPJ ( Politicians who fear the people seek to disarm them. - - Bill St. Clair)
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To: Gandalf_The_Gray
Didn't we lose a couple of H-bombs from a B-58 off Spain. I seem to recall that one hit land and cracked open and the other went down in the Mediterranean. I don't know if it was ever recovered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash

Mid-air refueling accident. Four bombs. Three came down on land. One went in the drink and was recovered 2½ months later.

Two of the three that hit land exploded, although there was no nuclear yield, just a big radioactive mess.

The reason why there was no nuclear yield is an interesting topic in itself. Nuclear weapons are designed to be "one-point safe". That is to say that, if the shaped charges around the plutonium core are not all detonated at the same time, the core (and the rest of the bomb) will be destroyed, but no nuclear explosion will happen. See the Wikipedia on Warhead design safety.


62 posted on 09/22/2013 5:21:15 PM PDT by cynwoody
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