dagblog - Comments for "A Hair Raising Must See Film" http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/hair-raising-must-see-film-21697 Comments for "A Hair Raising Must See Film" en Current Nuke Weapons... http://dagblog.com/comment/232447#comment-232447 <a id="comment-232447"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/hair-raising-must-see-film-21697">A Hair Raising Must See Film</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div><strong>Current Nuke Weapons...</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>From the NOT SO WISE one:</div> <div> <blockquote> <p>Trump <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/311590-trump-alarms-arms-control-community-with-nuke-tweet">said</a> in December that the United States needed to “strengthen and expand” its nuclear arsenal. “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,” Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811977223326625792">wrote</a> on Twitter.</p> <p> </p> </blockquote> </div> <div> </div> <div>How many nuclear weapons does it take to obliterate the world?</div> <div> <p>Here are nine countries with nuclear weapons (<a href="http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/2014/nuclear_May_2014" target="_blank">and here is the full report</a>):</p> <blockquote> <p> </p> <p style="text-align:center"><img alt="" height="534" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53a0512569bedd766f2e6b76-840-805/nukes-4.jpg" width="557" /></p> <p><a href="http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/2014/nuclear_May_2014">via SIPRI</a></p> </blockquote> </div> <div> </div> <div>Now... Let good Ol' Uncle Joe place this in perspective and say it in the clearest terms...</div> <div> </div> <div> 01/11/17 | The Hill</div> <div> </div> <div> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/313910-biden-warns-trump-administration-not-to-invest-in-nuclear-buildup">Biden warns Trump administration not to invest in nuclear buildup</a></span></p> </div> <blockquote> <div class="rtecenter"><a class="email" href="mailto:?subject=TheHill.com%3A%20Biden%20warns%20Trump%20administration%20not%20to%20invest%20in%20nuclear%20buildup&amp;body=From%20TheHill.com%3A%20%0A%0A%E2%80%9CIf%20future%20budgets%20reverse%20the%20choices%20we%E2%80%99ve%20made%20and%20pour%20additional%20money%20into%20nuclear%20buildup%2C...%0A%0Ahttp%3A//thehill.com/policy/national-security/313910-biden-warns-trump-administration-not-to-invest-in-nuclear-buildup"> </a></div> <div> <div class="rtecenter"><img alt="Biden warns Trump administration not to invest in nuclear buildup" height="314" src="http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_small_article/public/article_images/bidenjoe_011116getty.jpg?itok=fT1rWdg_" width="558" /></div> <div> </div> </div> <p>Vice President <a class="rollover-people-link" href="http://thehill.com/people/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> on Wednesday warned the incoming Trump administration not to invest money in “nuclear buildup,” as he recalled relations with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War era.</p> <p>Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank in Washington, D.C., the vice president said placing money in nuclear weapons is reminiscent of the Cold War.</p> <p>“If future budgets reverse the choices we’ve made and pour additional money into nuclear buildup, it harkens back to the Cold War," he said. “It will do nothing to increase the day-to-day security of the United States or our allies."</p> <p>Biden, who recalled his days serving in the United States Senate during the Reagan Administration in the last years of the Cold War, said Russia has “moved to rely more heavily” on its nuclear arsenal.</p> <p>“As the next administration navigates these difficult security talks, it’ll have to make decisions for American security that recognize budgetary constraints and require tradeoffs,” Biden said.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/313910-biden-warns-trump-administration-not-to-invest-in-nuclear-buildup">More here--&gt;</a></p> <p> </p> <p>~OGD~</p> </div></div></div> Thu, 12 Jan 2017 14:06:58 +0000 oldenGoldenDecoy comment 232447 at http://dagblog.com Ducky, you just scared the http://dagblog.com/comment/232444#comment-232444 <a id="comment-232444"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/232440#comment-232440">Wow... Dick...</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Ducky, you just scared the shite out of me. no kidding</p> <p>Yeah, you just used the internet available.</p> <p>But this aint Alex Jones or other conspirators. hahahahah</p> <p>This got to me.</p> <p>How many mistakes can we make on this level without blowing up the entire world?</p> <p>Sorry, this got to me. I did not mean to embarrass you.</p> <p>I do not think that other folks know the stuff you just wrote.</p> </div></div></div> Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:40:50 +0000 Richard Day comment 232444 at http://dagblog.com Wow... Dick... http://dagblog.com/comment/232440#comment-232440 <a id="comment-232440"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/232425#comment-232425">DAMN DUCKY</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Wow... Dick...</strong></p> <p>Thanks, I'm speechless.</p> <p>But all I've done is taken what's out there and put it here.</p> <p>Every once in awhile I find a good rabbit of interest in the hat.</p> <p><img alt="" height="59" src="http://dagblog.com/sites/default/files/pictures/picture-4147.gif" width="55" /></p> <p>~OGD~</p> </div></div></div> Thu, 12 Jan 2017 08:56:00 +0000 oldenGoldenDecoy comment 232440 at http://dagblog.com DAMN DUCKY http://dagblog.com/comment/232425#comment-232425 <a id="comment-232425"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/232423#comment-232423"> Yes Dick... SNAFU</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>DAMN DUCKY</p> <p>WELL DONE!</p> <p>I hereby render unto Ducky the Dayly Blog of the Day Award for this here Dagblog Site, given to all of Ducky from all of me!</p> <p>Hell, Blog of the month.</p> <p>DAMN, WELL DONE!</p> <p>The sins of Simpson seems small in comparison.</p> <p>hahahahah</p> <p>WELL DONE!</p> </div></div></div> Wed, 11 Jan 2017 23:12:19 +0000 Richard Day comment 232425 at http://dagblog.com  Yes Dick... SNAFU http://dagblog.com/comment/232423#comment-232423 <a id="comment-232423"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/232413#comment-232413">Oh hi Ducky.</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> <em><strong>Yes Dick... </strong></em><strong>SNAFU</strong></p> <p>Situation Normal, All Fucked Up</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents">List of military nuclear accidents</a> - wiki</p> <p><strong>1950s</strong></p> <ul><li>February 13, 1950 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific Ocean</a>, off Coast of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia" title="British Columbia">British Columbia</a> – Non-nuclear detonation of an atomic bomb. Weapon briefly thought to have been located by civilian diver in 2016 near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitt_Island_%28Canada%29" title="Pitt Island (Canada)">Pitt Island</a> but this was subsequently found not to be the case.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-king-5">[5]</a> <ul><li>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">USAF</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker" title="Convair B-36 Peacemaker">B-36</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber_aircraft" title="Bomber aircraft">bomber</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-36B_44-92075" title="B-36B 44-92075">AF Ser. No. 44-92075</a>, was flying a simulated combat mission from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eielson_Air_Force_Base" title="Eielson Air Force Base">Eielson Air Force Base</a>, near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbanks,_Alaska" title="Fairbanks, Alaska">Fairbanks</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska" title="Alaska">Alaska</a>, to <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carswell_Air_Force_Base" title="Carswell Air Force Base">Carswell Air Force Base</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas" title="Fort Worth, Texas">Fort Worth</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a>, carrying one weapon containing a dummy warhead. The warhead contained conventional explosives and natural uranium but lacked the plutonium core of an actual weapon. After six hours of flight, the bomber experienced mechanical problems and was forced to shut down three of its six engines at an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,700 m). Fearing that severe weather and icing would jeopardize a safe emergency landing, the weapon was jettisoned over the Pacific Ocean from a height of 8,000 ft (2,400 m). The weapon's <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_explosive" title="High explosive">high explosives</a> detonated upon impact with a bright flash visible. All of the sixteen crew members and one passenger were able to parachute from the plane and twelve were subsequently rescued from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Royal_Island" title="Princess Royal Island">Princess Royal Island</a>. The Pentagon's summary report does not mention whether the weapon was later recovered.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Tiwari-6">[6]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>April 11, 1950 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico" title="Albuquerque, New Mexico">Albuquerque, New Mexico</a>, USA – Loss and recovery of nuclear materials <ul><li>Three minutes after departure from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtland_Air_Force_Base" title="Kirtland Air Force Base">Kirtland Air Force Base</a> in Albuquerque a USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress" title="Boeing B-29 Superfortress">B-29 bomber</a> carrying a nuclear weapon, four spare detonators, and a crew of thirteen crashed into a mountain near <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzano_Base" title="Manzano Base">Manzano Base</a>. The crash resulted in a fire that <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a></em> reported as being visible from 15 miles (24 km). The bomb's casing was completely demolished and its high explosives ignited upon contact with the plane's burning fuel. However, according to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense" title="United States Department of Defense">Department of Defense</a>, the four spare detonators and all nuclear components were recovered. A nuclear detonation was not possible because, while on board, the weapon's core was not in the weapon for safety reasons. All thirteen crew members died.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Tiwari-6">[6]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>July 13, 1950 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon,_Ohio" title="Lebanon, Ohio">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio" title="Ohio">Ohio</a>, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of an atomic bomb <ul><li>A USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-50_Superfortress" title="B-50 Superfortress">B-50</a> aircraft on a training mission from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggs_Air_Force_Base" title="Biggs Air Force Base">Biggs Air Force Base</a> with a nuclear weapon flew into the ground resulting in a high-explosive detonation, but no nuclear explosion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-AFRRI-7">[7]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>August 5, 1950 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Air_Force_Base" title="Travis Air Force Base">Fairfield Suisun-AFB</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California">California</a>, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of an atomic bomb <ul><li>A USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress" title="Boeing B-29 Superfortress">B-29 bomber</a> with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_4_nuclear_bomb" title="Mark 4 nuclear bomb">Mark 4 nuclear bomb</a> on board, flying to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam" title="Guam">Guam</a> at the request of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_of_the_Army_%28United_States%29" title="General of the Army (United States)">General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur" title="Douglas MacArthur">Douglas MacArthur</a>, experienced malfunctions with runaway propellers and landing gear retraction during take-off and crashed while attempting an emergency landing. In the resulting fire, the bomb's high-explosive material exploded, killing nineteen people from the crew and rescue personnel. <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadier_General" title="Brigadier General">Brigadier General</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Travis" title="Robert F. Travis">Robert F. Travis</a> was among the dead.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-8">[8]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>November 10, 1950 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivi%C3%A8re-du-Loup" title="Rivière-du-Loup">Rivière-du-Loup</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu%C3%A9bec" title="Québec">Québec</a>, Canada – Non-nuclear detonation of an atomic bomb <ul><li>Returning one of several U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_4_nuclear_bomb" title="Mark 4 nuclear bomb">Mark 4 nuclear bombs</a> secretly deployed in Canada, a USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-50_Superfortress" title="B-50 Superfortress">B-50</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_Rivi%C3%A8re-du-Loup_B-50_nuclear_weapon_loss_incident" title="1950 Rivière-du-Loup B-50 nuclear weapon loss incident">had engine trouble and jettisoned the weapon</a> at 10,500 feet (3,200 m). The crew set the bomb to self-destruct at 2,500 ft (760 m) and dropped over the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lawrence_River" title="St. Lawrence River">St. Lawrence River</a>. The explosion shook area residents and scattered nearly 100 pounds (45 kg) of uranium (U-238) used in the weapon's tamper. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a> core ("<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_%28nuclear_weapon%29" title="Pit (nuclear weapon)">pit</a>") was not in the bomb at the time.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-9">[9]</a></li> </ul></li> </ul><ul><li>March 1, 1954 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll" title="Bikini Atoll">Bikini Atoll</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands" title="Marshall Islands">Republic of the Marshall Islands</a> (then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_Territory_of_the_Pacific_Islands" title="Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands">Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands</a>) – Nuclear test accident <ul><li>During the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo_test" title="Castle Bravo test">Castle Bravo test</a> of the first deployable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon" title="Thermonuclear weapon">hydrogen bomb</a>, a miscalculation resulted in the explosion being over twice as large as predicted, with a total explosive force of 15 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalent" title="TNT equivalent">megatons of TNT</a> (63 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule" title="Joule">PJ</a>). Of the total yield, 10 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalent" title="TNT equivalent">Mt</a> (42 PJ) were from fission of the natural uranium tamper, but those fission reactions were quite dirty, producing a large amount of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout" title="Nuclear fallout">fallout</a>. Combined with the much larger than expected yield and an unanticipated wind shift, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_radiation" title="Nuclear radiation">radioactive</a> fallout spread into unexpected areas. A Japanese <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_boat" title="Fishing boat">fishing boat</a>, the <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daigo_Fukury%C5%AB_Maru" title="Daigo Fukuryū Maru">Daigo Fukuryu Maru/Lucky Dragon</a></em>, came into contact with the fallout, which caused many of the crew to become ill, with one fatality. The fallout spread eastward onto the inhabited <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongelap_Atoll" title="Rongelap Atoll">Rongelap</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongerik_Atoll" title="Rongerik Atoll">Rongerik Atolls</a>. These islands were not evacuated before the explosion due to the financial cost involved, but many of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands" title="Marshall Islands">Marshall Islands</a> natives have since suffered from radiation burns and radioactive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust" title="Dust">dusting</a> and also similar fates as the Japanese fishermen and have received little, if any, compensation from the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._government" title="U.S. government">federal government</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-10">[10]</a> The test resulted in an international uproar and reignited Japanese concerns about radiation, especially with regard to the possible <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_contamination" title="Radioactive contamination">contamination</a> of fish. Personal accounts of the Rongelap people can be seen in the documentary <em><a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Children_of_Armageddon&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Children of Armageddon (page does not exist)">Children of Armageddon</a></em>.</li> </ul></li> <li>November 29, 1955 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho" title="Idaho">Idaho</a>, USA – Partial meltdown <ul><li>Operator error led to a partial <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_meltdown" title="Core meltdown">core meltdown</a> in the experimental <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I" title="Experimental Breeder Reactor I">EBR-I</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor" title="Breeder reactor">breeder reactor</a>, resulting in temporarily elevated radioactivity levels in the reactor building and necessitating significant repair.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-11">[11]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-12">[12]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>March 10, 1956 – Over the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a> – Nuclear weapons lost <ul><li>A USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-47_Stratojet" title="B-47 Stratojet">B-47 Stratojet</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_B-47_disappearance" title="1956 B-47 disappearance">AF Ser. No. 52-534</a>, on a non-stop mission from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacDill_Air_Force_Base" title="MacDill Air Force Base">MacDill Air Force Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida">Florida</a>, to an overseas base descended into a cloud formation at 14,000 feet over the Mediterranean in preparation for an in-air refueling and vanished while carrying two nuclear weapon cores. The plane was lost while flying through dense clouds, and the cores and other wreckage were never located.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-13">[13]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-14">[14]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-CG-HR-3-15">[15]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>July 27, 1956 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lakenheath" title="RAF Lakenheath">RAF Lakenheath</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffolk" title="Suffolk">Suffolk</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Northern_Ireland" title="United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland">UK</a> – Nuclear weapons damaged <ul><li>A USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-47_Stratojet" title="B-47 Stratojet">B-47</a> crashed into a <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Storage_igloo&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Storage igloo (page does not exist)">storage igloo</a> spreading burning fuel over three <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_6_nuclear_bomb" title="Mark 6 nuclear bomb">Mark 6 nuclear bombs</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lakenheath" title="RAF Lakenheath">RAF Lakenheath</a>. A bomb disposal expert stated it was a miracle exposed detonators on one bomb did not fire, which presumably would have released nuclear material into the environment.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-16">[16]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>May 22, 1957 – <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtland_AFB" title="Kirtland AFB">Kirtland AFB</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico" title="New Mexico">New Mexico</a>, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of an atomic weapon <ul><li>A B-36 ferrying a nuclear weapon from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggs_Air_Force_Base" title="Biggs Air Force Base">Biggs AFB</a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtland_Air_Force_Base" title="Kirtland Air Force Base">Kirtland AFB</a> dropped a nuclear weapon on approach to Kirtland. The weapon struck the ground 4.5 miles south of the Kirtland control tower and 0.3 miles west of the Sandia Base reservation. The weapon was completely destroyed by the detonation of its high explosive material, creating a crater 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and 25 feet (7.62 m) in diameter. Radioactive contamination at the crater lip amounted to 0.5 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milliroentgen" title="Milliroentgen">milliroentgen</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-CG-HR-3-15">[15]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>July 28, 1957 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a> – Two weapons jettisoned and not recovered <ul><li>A USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-124_Globemaster_II" title="C-124 Globemaster II">C-124</a> aircraft from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Air_Force_Base" title="Dover Air Force Base">Dover Air Force Base</a>, Delaware was carrying three nuclear bombs over the Atlantic Ocean when it experienced a loss of power. For their own safety, the crew jettisoned two nuclear bombs, which were never recovered.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-AFRRI-7">[7]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>September 11, 1957 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant" title="Rocky Flats Plant">Rocky Flats Plant</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden,_Colorado" title="Golden, Colorado">Golden</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado" title="Colorado">Colorado</a>, USA – Fire, release of nuclear materials <ul><li>A fire began in a theoretically fireproof area inside the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a> processing building, in a materials handling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glovebox" title="Glovebox">glove box</a> and spread through the <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ventilation_system&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Ventilation system (page does not exist)">ventilation system</a> into the <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stack_filter&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Stack filter (page does not exist)">stack filters</a> at the Rocky Flats weapons mill 27 kilometres (17 mi) from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver,_Colorado" title="Denver, Colorado">Denver, Colorado</a>. The fire quickly spread to the plutonium as various safety features failed. As the containment ability of the facility became compromised, plumes of radioactive smoke were sent high into the air. The fire raged inside the building for 13 hours over the night of the 11th &amp; 12th before firefighters could finally extinguish it. In the aftermath, Department of Energy officials, and the Dow Chemical officials who ran the facility, did not admit the extent of the catastrophe, or the radiation danger, to local officials or the media. Knowledge of the extent of the damage and contamination was kept from the public for years. After the fire, plutonium was detected 30 miles from the plant, including a school 12 miles away and Denver and its environs. An independent group of scientists conducting off-site testing 13 years later found plutonium contamination in areas in nearby Rocky Flats to be 400 to 1,500 times higher than normal, higher than any ever recorded near any urban area, including <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombing_of_Nagasaki" title="Atomic bombing of Nagasaki">Nagasaki</a>. The Atomic Energy Commission then conducted its own off-site study, and that study confirmed plutonium contamination as far as thirty miles from the plant.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-17">[17]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-18">[18]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-19">[19]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-20">[20]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>29 September 1957 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym" title="Kyshtym">Kyshtym</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_Oblast" title="Chelyabinsk Oblast">Chelyabinsk Oblast</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Federation" title="Russian Federation">Russian Federation</a> (then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic" title="Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic">Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">USSR</a>) – Explosion, release of nuclear materials <ul><li><em>See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster" title="Kyshtym disaster">Kyshtym disaster</a></em>. A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor_coolant" title="Nuclear reactor coolant">cooling system</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catastrophic_failure" title="Catastrophic failure">failure</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak" title="Mayak">Mayak</a> nuclear processing plant resulted in a major explosion and release of radioactive materials. A large area was subjected to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_contamination" title="Radioactive contamination">radioactive contamination</a> and thousands of local inhabitants were evacuated.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-21">[21]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>October 8–12, 1957 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield" title="Sellafield">Sellafield</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbria" title="Cumbria">Cumbria</a>, UK – Reactor core fire <ul><li><em>See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windscale_fire" title="Windscale fire">Windscale fire</a></em>. Technicians mistakenly overheated Windscale <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_%28nuclear_reactor%29" title="Pile (nuclear reactor)">Pile</a> No. 1 during an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_%28metallurgy%29" title="Annealing (metallurgy)">annealing</a> process to release <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigner_energy" title="Wigner energy">Wigner energy</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite" title="Graphite">graphite</a> portions of the reactor. Poorly placed temperature sensors indicated the reactor was cooling rather than heating. The excess heat led to the failure of a nuclear cartridge, which in turn allowed uranium and irradiated graphite to react with air. The resulting fire burned for days, damaging a significant portion of the reactor core. About 150 burning fuel cells could not be lifted from the core, but operators succeeded in creating a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebreak" title="Firebreak">firebreak</a> by removing nearby fuel cells. An effort to cool the graphite core with water eventually quenched the fire. The reactor had released radioactive gases into the surrounding countryside, primarily in the form of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine-131" title="Iodine-131">iodine-131</a> (131I). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk" title="Milk">Milk</a> distribution was banned in a 200-square-mile (520 km2) area around the reactor for several weeks. A 1987 report by the National Radiological Protection Board predicted the accident would cause as many as 33 long-term cancer deaths, although the Medical Research Council Committee concluded that "it is in the highest degree unlikely that any harm has been done to the health of anybody, whether a worker in the Windscale plant or a member of the general public." The reactor that burned was one of two air-cooled, graphite-moderated natural uranium reactors at the site used for production of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-22">[22]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-23">[23]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-24">[24]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>October 11, 1957 – <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Air_Force_Base" title="Homestead Air Force Base">Homestead Air Force Base</a>, Florida – Nuclear bomb burned after B-47 aircraft accident<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-DOD1981-25">[25]</a> <ul><li>B-47 aircraft crashed during take-off after a wheel exploded; one nuclear bomb burned in the resulting fire.</li> </ul></li> <li>January 31, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco" title="Morocco">Morocco</a> – Nuclear bomb damaged in crash<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-DOD1981-25">[25]</a> <ul><li>During a simulated takeoff, a wheel casting failure caused the tail of a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Air_Force" title="U.S. Air Force">USAF</a> B-47 carrying an armed nuclear weapon to hit the runway, rupturing a fuel tank and sparking a fire. Some contamination was detected immediately following the accident.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-26">[26]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-GlobalSecurity-27">[27]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>February 5, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah,_Georgia" title="Savannah, Georgia">Savannah</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28U.S._state%29" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a>, USA – Nuclear bomb lost <ul><li><em>See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Tybee_Island_mid-air_collision" title="1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision">1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision</a></em>. A USAF B-47 bomber jettisoned a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_15_nuclear_bomb" title="Mark 15 nuclear bomb">Mark 15 Mod 0 nuclear bomb</a> over the Atlantic Ocean after a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midair_collision" title="Midair collision">midair collision</a> with a USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-86_Sabre" title="North American F-86 Sabre">F-86 Sabre</a> during a simulated combat mission from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Air_Force_Base" title="Homestead Air Force Base">Homestead Air Force Base</a>, Florida. The F-86's pilot <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejection_seat" title="Ejection seat">ejected</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute" title="Parachute">parachuted</a> to safety.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Natola-28">[28]</a> The USAF claimed the B-47 tried landing at <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Air_Force_Base" title="Hunter Air Force Base">Hunter Air Force Base</a>, Georgia three times before the bomb was jettisoned at 7,200 ft (2,200 m) near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tybee_Island,_Georgia" title="Tybee Island, Georgia">Tybee Island</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28U.S._state%29" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a>. The B-47 pilot successfully landed in one attempt only after he first jettisoned the bomb. A 3-square-mile (7.8 km2) area near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassaw_Sound" title="Wassaw Sound">Wassaw Sound</a> was searched for nine weeks before the search was called off. The bomb was searched for in 2001 and not found. A group of investigators in 2004 claimed to have found an underwater object that they think is the bomb.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-29">[29]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>March 11, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Mars_Bluff_B-47_nuclear_weapon_loss_incident" title="1958 Mars Bluff B-47 nuclear weapon loss incident">1958 Mars Bluff B-47 nuclear weapon loss incident</a>, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of a nuclear bomb <ul><li>A USAF B-47E bomber, number 53-1876A, was flying from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Air_Force_Base" title="Hunter Air Force Base">Hunter Air Force Base</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah,_Georgia" title="Savannah, Georgia">Savannah</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28U.S._state%29" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a>, to England in a formation of four B-47s on a top-secret mission called Operation Snow Flurry to perform a mock bombing exercise. The flight navigator/bombardier climbed on 10 feet (3 m) long 7,600 pounds (3,447 kg) 30-kiloton <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_6_nuclear_bomb" title="Mark 6 nuclear bomb">Mark 6 nuclear bomb</a> to check the locking harness. He accidentally pushed the emergency release lever, the bomb hit the bomb-bay doors, forced its way out and went into 15,000 feet (4,572 m) free fall. The high-explosive detonator went off after it hit the ground 6.5 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_mile" title="Statute mile">miles</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction" title="Cardinal direction">east</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence,_South_Carolina" title="Florence, South Carolina">Florence, South Carolina</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Bluff,_South_Carolina#Nuclear_bomb_accident" title="Mars Bluff, South Carolina">Mars Bluff</a>, creating a 70 feet (21 m) wide crater, 30 feet (9 m) deep.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-30">[30]</a> A nearby house was destroyed and several people were injured.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Natola-28">[28]</a>:136–137<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-31">[31]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>June 16, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee" title="Oak Ridge, Tennessee">Oak Ridge, Tennessee</a>, USA – Accidental criticality <ul><li>A supercritical portion of highly enriched <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranyl_nitrate" title="Uranyl nitrate">uranyl nitrate</a> was allowed to collect in the drum causing a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prompt_critical" title="Prompt critical">prompt neutron criticality</a> in the C-1 wing of building 9212 at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex" title="Y-12 National Security Complex">Y-12</a> complex. It is estimated that the reaction produced 1.3 × 1018 fissions. Eight employees were in close proximity to the drum during the accident, receiving <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation" title="Neutron radiation">neutron</a> doses ranging from 30 to 477 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6ntgen_equivalent_man" title="Röntgen equivalent man">rems</a>. No fatalities were reported.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Walker-32">[32]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>November 4, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyess_Air_Force_Base" title="Dyess Air Force Base">Dyess Air Force Base</a>, Texas, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of a nuclear bomb <ul><li>A USAF B-47 bomber developed a fire shortly after take-off and went down with a nuclear weapon on board from an altitude of 1,500 ft (460 m). The detonation of the high explosive material in the bomb created a crater 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 35 feet (10.7 m) in diameter. Three crew members escaped, and one was killed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-33">[33]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>November 26, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennault_Air_Force_Base" title="Chennault Air Force Base">Chennault Air Force Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of a nuclear bomb <ul><li>A USAF B-47 bomber with a nuclear weapon on board developed a fire while on the ground. The aircraft wreckage and the site of the accident were contaminated after a limited explosion of non-nuclear material.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-34">[34]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>December 30, 1958 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos,_New_Mexico" title="Los Alamos, New Mexico">Los Alamos, New Mexico</a>, USA – Accidental criticality <ul><li>During chemical purification, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass" title="Critical mass">critical mass</a> of a plutonium solution was accidentally assembled at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory" title="Los Alamos National Laboratory">Los Alamos National Laboratory</a>. A chemical operator named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Kelley_criticality_accident" title="Cecil Kelley criticality accident">Cecil E. Kelley</a> died of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_radiation_syndrome" title="Acute radiation syndrome">acute radiation sickness</a>. The March 1961 <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Occupational_and_Environmental_Medicine" title="Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine">Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine</a></em> printed a special supplement medically analyzing this accident. Hand manipulation of critical assemblies was abandoned as a matter of policy in U.S. federal facilities after this accident.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Walker-32">[32]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>January 18, 1959 – USAF Pacific Base (location remains classified) – Nuclear weapon on fire <ul><li>A grounded USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-100_Super_Sabre" title="North American F-100 Super Sabre">F-100C Super Sabre</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersonic_aircraft" title="Supersonic aircraft">supersonic</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighter-bomber" title="Fighter-bomber">fighter-bomber</a> with a nuclear weapon loaded developed a fire on one of the USAF Pacific bases after its external fuel tanks were dropped and exploded during a practice alert. The resulting fire was put out in seven minutes and there was no nuclear weapon explosion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-35">[35]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>July 6, 1959, – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barksdale_Air_Force_Base" title="Barksdale Air Force Base">Barksdale AFB</a>, Louisiana, USA – Limited contamination <ul><li>A USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-124_Globemaster_II" title="Douglas C-124 Globemaster II">C-124</a> transporting two nuclear weapons without fissile cores crashed and burned down during take-off. The high explosive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detonator" title="Detonator">detonators</a> did not go off. The wreckage area experienced limited contamination.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-36">[36]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>September 25, 1959, – Off <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whidbey_Island" title="Whidbey Island">Whidbey Island</a>, Washington, USA – Lost nuclear weapon <ul><li>A U.S. Navy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_P5M_Marlin" title="Martin P5M Marlin">P5M</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisubmarine_warfare" title="Antisubmarine warfare">antisubmarine</a> aircraft with an unarmed <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_depth_charge" title="Nuclear depth charge">nuclear depth charge</a> on board fell into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound" title="Puget Sound">Puget Sound</a> near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whidbey_Island" title="Whidbey Island">Whidbey Island</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_%28U.S._state%29" title="Washington (U.S. state)">Washington</a>. The nuclear weapon was not recovered.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-37">[37]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>October 15, 1959, – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardinsburg,_Kentucky" title="Hardinsburg, Kentucky">Hardinsburg, Kentucky</a>, USA – Nuclear weapon partially damaged <ul><li>A USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress" title="Boeing B-52 Stratofortress">B-52F-100-BO</a>, number 57-036, with two nuclear weapons <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midair_collision" title="Midair collision">collided</a> at 32,000 feet (9,754 m) with a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC-135" title="KC-135">KC-135</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanker_aircraft" title="Tanker aircraft">refueling aircraft</a>, number 57-1513, during a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midair_refueling" title="Midair refueling">refueling procedure</a> near Hardinsburg, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Kentucky" title="Commonwealth of Kentucky">Kentucky</a>. The planes took off from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Air_Force_Base" title="Columbus Air Force Base">Columbus Air Force Base</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi" title="Mississippi">Mississippi</a>. After collision, both planes crashed killing eight crew members. One unarmed nuclear weapon was partially damaged, but no contamination resulted.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-38">[38]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>November 20, 1959 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee" title="Oak Ridge, Tennessee">Oak Ridge, Tennessee</a>, USA – Explosion <ul><li>A <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_explosion" title="Chemical explosion">chemical explosion</a> occurred during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decontamination" title="Decontamination">decontamination</a> of processing machinery in the radiochemical processing plant at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge_National_Laboratory" title="Oak Ridge National Laboratory">Oak Ridge National Laboratory</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a> . (Report ORNL-2989, Oak Ridge National Laboratory). The accident resulted in the release of about 15 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram" title="Gram">grams</a> (0.53 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce" title="Ounce">oz</a>) of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-239" title="Plutonium-239">239Pu</a>.</li> </ul></li> </ul><p><strong>1960s</strong></p> <ul><li>June 7, 1960 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Egypt,_New_Jersey" title="New Egypt, New Jersey">New Egypt, New Jersey</a>, USA – Nuclear warhead damaged by fire <ul><li>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium" title="Helium">helium</a> tank exploded and ruptured the fuel tanks of a USAF <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOMARC" title="BOMARC">BOMARC-A</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-to-air_missile" title="Surface-to-air missile">surface-to-air missile</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuire_Air_Force_Base" title="McGuire Air Force Base">McGuire Air Force Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey" title="New Jersey">New Jersey</a>. The fire destroyed the missile, and contaminated the area directly below and adjacent to the missile.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-GlobalSecurity-27">[27]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-39">[39]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>October 13, 1960 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barents_Sea" title="Barents Sea">Barents Sea</a>, Arctic Ocean – Release of nuclear materials <ul><li>A leak developed in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_generator" title="Steam generator">steam generators</a> and in a pipe leading to the compensator reception on the ill-fated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-8" title="Soviet submarine K-8"><em>K-8</em></a> while the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Navy" title="Soviet Navy">Soviet</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Banner_Northern_Fleet" title="Red Banner Northern Fleet">Northern Fleet</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_class" title="November class"><em>November</em>-class</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_submarine" title="Nuclear submarine">submarine</a> was on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_exercise" title="Military exercise">exercise</a>. While the crew <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury-rig" title="Jury-rig">rigged</a> an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvisation" title="Improvisation">improvised</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor_coolant" title="Nuclear reactor coolant">cooling system</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_leak" title="Radiation leak">radioactive gases</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_leak" title="Gas leak">leaked</a> into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warship" title="Warship">vessel</a> and three of the crew suffered visible radiation injuries according to radiological experts in Moscow. Some crew members had been exposed to doses of up to 1.8–2 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert" title="Sievert">Sv</a> (180–200 rem).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-40">[40]</a></li> </ul></li> </ul><ul><li>January 3, 1961 – <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reactor_Testing_Station" title="National Reactor Testing Station">National Reactor Testing Station</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho" title="Idaho">Idaho</a>, USA – Accidental criticality, steam explosion, 3 fatalities, release of fission products <ul><li>During a maintenance shutdown, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1" title="SL-1">SL-1</a> experimental nuclear reactor underwent a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prompt_critical" title="Prompt critical">prompt critical</a> reaction causing core materials to explosively vaporize. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_hammer" title="Water hammer">Water hammer</a> estimated at 10,000 pounds per square inch (69,000 kPa) struck the top of the reactor vessel propelling the entire reactor vessel upwards over 9 feet (2.7 m) in the air. One operator who had been standing on top of the vessel was killed when a shield plug impaled him and lodged in the ceiling. Two other military personnel were also killed from the trauma of the explosion, one of which had removed the central control rod too far. The plant had to be dismantled and the contamination was buried permanently nearby. Most of the release of radioactive materials was concentrated within the reactor building.</li> </ul></li> </ul><div>For more details on this topic, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1" title="SL-1">SL-1</a>.</div> <ul><li>January 24, 1961 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash" title="1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash">Goldsboro B-52 crash</a> – Physical destruction of a nuclear bomb, loss of nuclear materials <ul><li>A USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress" title="Boeing B-52 Stratofortress">B-52</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber_aircraft" title="Bomber aircraft">bomber</a> caught fire and exploded in midair due to a major leak in a wing fuel cell 12 miles (19 km) north of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Johnson_Air_Force_Base" title="Seymour Johnson Air Force Base">Seymour Johnson Air Force Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina" title="North Carolina">North Carolina</a>. Five crewmen <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute" title="Parachute">parachuted</a> to safety, but three died—two in the aircraft and one on landing. The incident released the bomber's two <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W39" title="W39">Mark 39</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_bomb" title="Hydrogen bomb">hydrogen bombs</a>. Three of the four arming devices on one of the bombs activated, causing it to carry out many of the steps needed to arm itself, such as the charging of the firing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor" title="Capacitor">capacitors</a> and, critically, the deployment of a 100-foot (30 m) diameter <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retarded_bomb" title="Retarded bomb">retardation</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute" title="Parachute">parachute</a>. The parachute allowed the bomb to hit the ground with little damage. The fourth arming device—the pilot's safe/arm switch—was not activated, preventing detonation. The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 mph (300 m/s) and disintegrated. Its tail was discovered about 20 feet (6 m) down and much of the bomb recovered, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium" title="Tritium">tritium</a> bottle and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a>. However, excavation was abandoned due to uncontrollable ground water flooding. Most of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear" title="Thermonuclear">thermonuclear</a> stage, containing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium" title="Uranium">uranium</a>, was left on site. It is estimated to lie around 55 feet (17 m) below ground. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">Air Force</a> purchased the land and fenced it off to prevent its disturbance, and it is tested regularly for contamination, although none has so far been found.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-41">[41]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>March 14, 1961 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Yuba_City_B-52_crash" title="1961 Yuba City B-52 crash">1961 Yuba City B-52 crash</a> <ul><li>USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress" title="Boeing B-52 Stratofortress">B-52</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber_aircraft" title="Bomber aircraft">bomber</a> departed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mather_Air_Force_Base" title="Mather Air Force Base">Mather Air Force Base</a>, California and experienced a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontrolled_decompression" title="Uncontrolled decompression">decompression event</a> that required it to fly below 10,000 feet. Resulting increased fuel consumption led to fuel exhaustion; the aircraft crashed near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuba_City,_California" title="Yuba City, California">Yuba City, California</a> with two nuclear bombs, which did not trigger a nuclear explosion.</li> </ul></li> <li>July 4, 1961 – coast of Norway – Near meltdown <ul><li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Navy" title="Soviet Navy">Soviet</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_class" title="Hotel class"><em>Hotel</em>-class</a> submarine <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-19" title="Soviet submarine K-19">K-19</a></em> suffered a failure in its cooling system. Reactor core temperatures reached 800 °C (1,500 °F), nearly enough to melt the fuel rods, although the crew was able to regain temperature control by using emergency procedures. The incident contaminated parts of the ship, some of the onboard ballistic missiles and the crew, resulting in several fatalities. The film <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-19:_The_Widowmaker" title="K-19: The Widowmaker">K-19: The Widowmaker</a></em>, starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ford" title="Harrison Ford">Harrison Ford</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Neeson" title="Liam Neeson">Liam Neeson</a>, offers a controversially fictionalized story of these events.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 1, 1962 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara" title="Sahara">Sahara desert</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Algeria" title="French Algeria">French Algeria</a> (now <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria" title="Algeria">Algeria</a>) – Accidental venting of underground nuclear test <ul><li>The second French underground nuclear test, codenamed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9ryl_incident" title="Béryl incident">Béryl</a>, took place in a shaft under <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mount_Taourirt&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Mount Taourirt (page does not exist)">Mount Taourirt</a>, near <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Ecker" title="In Ecker">In Ecker</a>, 150 km (100 mi) north of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamanrasset" title="Tamanrasset">Tamanrasset</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria" title="Algeria">Algerian</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara" title="Sahara">Sahara</a>. Due to improper sealing of the shaft, a spectacular flame burst through the concrete cap and radioactive gases and dust were vented into the atmosphere. The plume climbed up to 2600 m (8500 ft) high and radiation was detected hundreds of km away. About a hundred soldiers and officials, including two ministers, were irradiated. The number of contaminated Algerians is unknown.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 22, 1962 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico,_California" title="Chico, California">Chico, California</a>, USA – Explosion of Titan I ICBM in silo in Chico, California. <ul><li>Titan I ICBM explodes in its silo in Chico, California.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-42">[42]</a> During a contractor checkout, a leak and subsequent explosion occurred at launcher 1 at complex 4C at Chico, destroying a Titan I and causing heavy damage to the silo. The Air Force concluded that the two separate explosions occurred because of a blocked vent and blocked valve. All contractors and crew of the silo escaped unharmed.</li> </ul></li> <li>April 10, 1963 – Loss of nuclear reactor <ul><li>Submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_%28SSN-593%29" title="USS Thresher (SSN-593)">USS <em>Thresher</em></a> sinks about 190 nmi (220 mi; 350 km) east of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod" title="Cape Cod">Cape Cod</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts" title="Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a> due to improper welds allowing in seawater which forced a shutdown of the reactor. Poor design of its emergency ballast system prevented the ship from surfacing and the disabled ship ultimately descended to <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_depth" title="Crush depth">crush depth</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implosion_%28mechanical_process%29" title="Implosion (mechanical process)">imploded</a>.</li> </ul></li> <li>January 13, 1964 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury,_Pennsylvania" title="Salisbury, Pennsylvania">Salisbury, Pennsylvania</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostburg,_Maryland" title="Frostburg, Maryland">Frostburg, Maryland</a>, USA – Accidental loss and recovery of thermonuclear bombs <ul><li>A USAF B-52 on airborne alert duty encountered a severe winter storm and extreme turbulence, ultimately disintegrating in midair over South Central Pennsylvania.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-43">[43]</a> Only the two pilots survived. One crew member failed to bail out and the rest succumbed to injuries or exposure to the harsh winter weather. A search for the missing weapons was initiated, and recovery was effected from portions of the wreckage at a farm northwest of Frostburg, MD.</li> </ul></li> <li>8 December 1964 – <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grissom_Joint_Air_Reserve_Base" title="Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base">Bunker Hill Air Force Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana" title="Indiana">Indiana</a>, USA – Fire, radioactive contamination <ul><li>USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-58_Hustler" title="Convair B-58 Hustler">B-58</a> aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon caught fire while taxiing. Nuclear weapon burned, causing contamination of the crash area.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-AFRRI-7">[7]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>January 1965 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livermore,_California" title="Livermore, California">Livermore, California</a>, USA – Release of nuclear materials <ul><li>An accident at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Livermore_National_Laboratory" title="Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory">Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory</a> released 300 kCi (11 PBq) of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium" title="Tritium">tritium</a> gas. Subsequent study found this release was not likely to produce adverse health effects in the surrounding communities.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-44">[44]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>February 1965 – <em><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin_%28nuclear_icebreaker%29" title="Lenin (nuclear icebreaker)">Lenin</a></em>, a Soviet nuclear icebreaker, suffered a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss-of-coolant_accident" title="Loss-of-coolant accident">loss-of-coolant accident</a>. After being shut down for refueling, the coolant was removed from the number two reactor before the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spent_nuclear_fuel" title="Spent nuclear fuel">spent fuel</a> had been removed. As a result, some of the fuel elements melted and deformed inside the reactor. This was discovered when the spent elements were being unloaded for storage and disposal. 124 fuel assemblies (about 60% of the total) were stuck in the reactor core. It was decided to remove the fuel, control grid, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_rod" title="Control rod">control rods</a> as a unit for disposal; they were placed in a special cask, solidified, stored for two years, and dumped in <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tsivolki_Bay&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Tsivolki Bay (page does not exist)">Tsivolki Bay</a> (near the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novaya_Zemlya" title="Novaya Zemlya">Novaya Zemlya</a> archipelago) in 1967.</li> <li>11 October 1965 – Rocky Flats Plant, Golden, Colorado, USA – Fire, exposure of workers <ul><li>A fire at Rocky Flats exposed a crew of 25 to up to 17 times the legal limit for radiation.</li> </ul></li> <li>December 5, 1965 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965_Philippine_Sea_A-4_incident" title="1965 Philippine Sea A-4 incident">1965 Philippine Sea A-4 incident</a> – Loss of a nuclear bomb <ul><li>A U.S. Navy <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-4_Skyhawk" title="A-4 Skyhawk">A-4E Skyhawk</a> aircraft with one <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B43_nuclear_bomb" title="B43 nuclear bomb">B43 nuclear bomb</a> on board fell off the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier" title="Aircraft carrier">aircraft carrier</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ticonderoga_%28CV_14%29" title="USS Ticonderoga (CV 14)"><em>Ticonderoga</em></a> into 16,200 feet (4,900 m) of water while the ship was underway from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> to <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_%28city%29" title="Yokosuka (city)">Yokosuka</a>, Japan. The plane, pilot and weapon were never recovered. There is dispute over exactly where the incident took place—the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense" title="United States Department of Defense">U.S. Defense Department</a> originally stated it took place 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of Japan, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">Navy</a> documents later show it happened about 80 miles (130 km) from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyu_Islands" title="Ryukyu Islands">Ryukyu Islands</a> and 200 miles (320 km) from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa" title="Okinawa">Okinawa</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-45">[45]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>January 17, 1966 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash" title="1966 Palomares B-52 crash">Palomares incident</a> – Accidental destruction, loss and recovery of nuclear bombs <ul><li>A USAF B-52 carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">USAF</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC-135" title="KC-135">KC-135</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanker_aircraft" title="Tanker aircraft">jet tanker</a> during over-ocean <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-flight_refueling" title="In-flight refueling">in-flight refueling</a>. Four of the B-52's seven crew members parachuted to safety while the remaining three were killed along with all four of the KC-135's crew. The conventional explosives in two of the bombs detonated upon impact with the ground, dispersing plutonium over nearby farms. A third bomb landed intact near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomares,_Almer%C3%ADa" title="Palomares, Almería">Palomares</a> while the fourth fell 12 miles (19 km) off the coast into the Mediterranean sea. The U.S. Navy conducted a three-month search involving 12,000 men and successfully recovered the fourth bomb. The U.S. Navy employed the use of the deep-diving research submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSV_Alvin" title="DSV Alvin">DSV <em>Alvin</em></a> to aid in the recovery efforts. During the ensuing cleanup, 1,500 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonne" title="Tonne">tonnes</a> (1,700 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_ton" title="Short ton">short tons</a>) of radioactive soil and tomato plants were shipped to a nuclear dump in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiken,_South_Carolina" title="Aiken, South Carolina">Aiken, South Carolina</a>. The U.S. settled claims by 522 Palomares residents for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar" title="United States dollar">$</a>600,000. The town also received a $200,000 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalinization" title="Desalinization">desalinization</a> plant. The motion picture <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_of_Honor" title="Men of Honor">Men of Honor</a></em> (2000), starring <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_Gooding,_Jr." title="Cuba Gooding, Jr.">Cuba Gooding, Jr.</a>, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">USN</a> Diver, Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_De_Niro" title="Robert De Niro">Robert De Niro</a> as USN Diver, Chief Petty Officer Billy Sunday, contained an account of the fourth bomb's recovery.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-46">[46]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>1967 – <em><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin_%28nuclear_icebreaker%29" title="Lenin (nuclear icebreaker)">Lenin</a></em>, a Soviet nuclear icebreaker, suffered a second accident; a cooling system leak which occurred in 1967, shortly after refueling. Finding the leak required breaking through the concrete and metal biological shield with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledgehammer" title="Sledgehammer">sledgehammers</a>. Once the leak was found, it became apparent that the sledgehammer damage could not be repaired; subsequently, all three reactors were removed, and replaced by two OK-900 reactors, by early 1970.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-47">[47]</a></li> <li>January 21, 1968 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash" title="1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash">1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a> – Loss and partial recovery of nuclear bombs <ul><li>A fire broke out in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigator" title="Navigator">navigator</a>'s compartment of a USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress" title="Boeing B-52 Stratofortress">B-52</a> near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base" title="Thule Air Base">Thule Air Base</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a>. The bomber crashed 7 miles (11 km) from the air base, rupturing its nuclear payload of four hydrogen bombs. The recovery and decontamination effort was complicated by Greenland's harsh weather. Contaminated ice and debris were buried in the United States. Bomb fragments were recycled by <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantex" title="Pantex">Pantex</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo,_Texas" title="Amarillo, Texas">Amarillo, Texas</a>. The incident caused outrage and protests in Denmark, as Greenland is a Danish possession and Denmark forbade nuclear weapons on its territory.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 22, 1968 – 740 km (400 nmi) southwest of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azores" title="Azores">Azores</a> – Loss of nuclear reactor and two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W34_%28nuclear_warhead%29" title="W34 (nuclear warhead)">W34</a> nuclear warheads <ul><li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">U.S.</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine" title="Submarine">submarine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_%28SSN-589%29" title="USS Scorpion (SSN-589)">USS <em>Scorpion</em> (SSN-589)</a> sank while en route from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rota,_Spain" title="Rota, Spain">Rota</a>, Spain, to <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Naval_Base" title="Norfolk Naval Base">Norfolk</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Virginia" title="Commonwealth of Virginia">Virginia</a>, USA. The cause of sinking remains unknown; all 99 officers and men on board were killed. The wreckage of the submarine, its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S5W_reactor" title="S5W reactor">S5W</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor" title="Nuclear reactor">nuclear reactor</a>, and its two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_45_torpedo" title="Mark 45 torpedo">Mark 45</a> torpedoes with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W34_%28nuclear_warhead%29" title="W34 (nuclear warhead)">W34</a> nuclear warheads, remain on the sea floor in more than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) of water.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 24, 1968 – location unknown – Loss of cooling, radioactive contamination, nuclear fuel damaged <ul><li>During sea trials, the Soviet nuclear submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-27" title="Soviet submarine K-27"><em>K-27</em></a> (Project 645) suffered severe problems with its reactor cooling systems. After spending some time at reduced power, reactor output inexplicably dropped and sensors detected an increase of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray" title="Gamma ray">gamma radiation</a> in the reactor compartment to 150 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rad_%28unit%29" title="Rad (unit)">rad</a>/h. The safety buffer tank released radioactive gases further contaminating the submarine. The crew shut the reactor down and subsequent investigation found that approximately 20% of the fuel assemblies were damaged. The entire submarine was scuttled in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Sea" title="Kara Sea">Kara Sea</a> in 1981.</li> </ul></li> <li>August 27, 1968 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severodvinsk" title="Severodvinsk">Severodvinsk</a>, Russia (then <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USSR" title="USSR">USSR</a>) – Reactor power excursion, contamination <ul><li>While in the naval yards at Severodvinsk for repairs, the Soviet <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_class_submarine" title="Yankee class submarine"><em>Yankee</em>-class</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_submarine" title="Nuclear submarine">nuclear submarine</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-140" title="Soviet submarine K-140"><em>K-140</em></a> suffered an uncontrolled increase of the reactor's power output. One of the reactors activated automatically when workers raised control rods to a higher position and power increased to 18 times normal, while pressure and temperature levels in the reactor increased to four times normal. The accident also increased radiation levels aboard the vessel. The problem was traced to the incorrect installation of control rod electrical cables.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 11, 1969 – Rocky Flats Plant, Golden, Colorado, USA – Plutonium fire, contamination <ul><li>An accident in which 5 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram" title="Kilogram">kilograms</a> of plutonium burnt inside a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glovebox" title="Glovebox">glovebox</a> at Rocky Flats. Cleanup took two years and was the costliest industrial accident ever to occur in the United States at that time.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-48">[48]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-49">[49]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-50">[50]</a></li> </ul></li> </ul><p><strong>1970s</strong></p> <ul><li>April 12, 1970 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Biscay" title="Bay of Biscay">Bay of Biscay</a> – Loss of a nuclear submarine <ul><li>The Soviet <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_class" title="November class"><em>November</em>-class</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_submarine" title="Attack submarine">attack submarine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-8" title="Soviet submarine K-8"><em>K-8</em></a> sank during salvage with 52 sailors on board after suffering fires in two compartments simultaneously. Both reactors were shut down. The crew attempted to hook a tow line to an <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_bloc" title="Soviet bloc">East Bloc</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_marine" title="Merchant marine">merchant vessel</a>, but ultimately failed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-51">[51]</a></li> </ul></li> </ul><ul><li>December 18, 1970 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Test_Site" title="Nevada Test Site">Nevada Test Site</a> – Accidental venting of nuclear explosion <ul><li>In <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_8_%28Nevada_National_Security_Site%29" title="Area 8 (Nevada National Security Site)">Area 8</a> on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Flat" title="Yucca Flat">Yucca Flat</a>, the 10 kiloton "Baneberry" weapons test of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Emery" title="Operation Emery">Operation Emery</a> detonated as planned at the bottom of a sealed vertical shaft 900 feet (274 m) below the Earth's surface but the device's energy cracked the soil in unexpected ways, causing a fissure near ground zero and the failure of the shaft stemming and cap.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-52">[52]</a> A plume of hot gases and radioactive dust was released three and a half minutes after ignition,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-53">[53]</a> and continuing for many hours, raining fallout on workers within NTS. Six percent of the explosion's radioactive products were vented. The plume released 6.7 MCi of radioactive material, including 80 kCi of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine-131" title="Iodine-131">Iodine-131</a> and a high ratio of noble gases.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-54">[54]</a> After dropping a portion of its load in the area, the hot cloud's lighter particles were carried to three altitudes and conveyed by winter storms and the jet stream to be deposited heavily as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radionuclide" title="Radionuclide">radionuclide</a>-laden snow in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassen_County,_California" title="Lassen County, California">Lassen</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_County,_California" title="Sierra County, California">Sierra</a> counties in northeast California, and to lesser degrees in northern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada" title="Nevada">Nevada</a>, southern Idaho and some eastern sections of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon" title="Oregon">Oregon</a> and Washington states.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-55">[55]</a> The three diverging jet stream layers conducted radionuclides across the U.S. to Canada, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico" title="Gulf of Mexico">Gulf of Mexico</a> and the Atlantic Ocean. Some 86 workers at the site were exposed to radioactivity, but according to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy" title="United States Department of Energy">Department of Energy</a>, none received a dose exceeding site guidelines and, similarly, radiation drifting offsite was not considered to pose a hazard by the DOE.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-56">[56]</a> In March 2009, <em><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIME" title="TIME">TIME</a></em> magazine identified the Baneberry Test as one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-57">[57]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>December 12, 1971 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London,_Connecticut" title="New London, Connecticut">New London, Connecticut</a>, USA – Spill of irradiated water <ul><li>During the transfer of radioactive coolant water from the submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dace_%28SSN-607%29" title="USS Dace (SSN-607)">USS <em>Dace</em></a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_tender" title="Submarine tender">submarine tender</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fulton_%28AS-11%29" title="USS Fulton (AS-11)">USS <em>Fulton</em></a> 500 US gallons (1,900 l; 420 imp gal) were spilled into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_River_%28Connecticut%29" title="Thames River (Connecticut)">Thames River</a> (USA).</li> </ul></li> <li>December 1972 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawling_%28village%29,_New_York" title="Pawling (village), New York">Pawling, New York</a>, USA – Contamination <ul><li>A major fire and two explosions contaminated the plant and grounds of a plutonium fabrication facility resulting in a permanent shutdown.</li> </ul></li> <li>1975 – location unknown – Contamination <ul><li>Radioactive resin contaminates the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">American</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon_class_submarine" title="Sturgeon class submarine"><em>Sturgeon</em>-class submarine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guardfish_%28SSN-612%29" title="USS Guardfish (SSN-612)">USS <em>Guardfish</em></a> after wind unexpectedly blows the powder back towards the ship. The resin is used to remove dissolved radioactive minerals and particles from the primary coolant loops of submarines. This type of accident was fairly common; however, U.S. Navy nuclear vessels no longer discharge resin at sea.</li> </ul></li> <li>October 1975 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apra_Harbor" title="Apra Harbor">Apra Harbor</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam" title="Guam">Guam</a> – Spill of irradiated water <ul><li>While disabled, the submarine tender <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Proteus_%28AS-19%29" title="USS Proteus (AS-19)">USS <em>Proteus</em></a> discharged radioactive coolant water. A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger_counter" title="Geiger counter">Geiger counter</a> at two of the harbor's public beaches showed 100 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millirem" title="Millirem">millirems</a>/hour, fifty times the allowable dose.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-58">[58]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Kaplan1983-59">[59]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>August 1976 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benton_County,_Washington" title="Benton County, Washington">Benton County, Washington</a>, United States – Explosion, contamination of worker <ul><li>An explosion at the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_site" title="Hanford site">Hanford site</a> Plutonium Finishing Plant blew out a quarter-inch-thick lead glass window. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_McCluskey" title="Harold McCluskey">Harold McCluskey</a>, a worker, was showered with nitric acid and radioactive glass. He inhaled the largest dose of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium-241" title="Americium-241">241Am</a> ever recorded, about 500 times the U.S. government occupational standards. The worker was placed in isolation for five months and given an experimental drug to flush the isotope from his body. By 1977, his body's radiation count had fallen by about 80 percent. He died of natural causes in 1987 at age 75.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-60">[60]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>1977 – coast of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsula" title="Kamchatka Peninsula">Kamchatka</a> – Loss and recovery of a nuclear warhead <ul><li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Navy" title="Soviet Navy">Soviet</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_submarine" title="Nuclear submarine">submarine</a> <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_submarine_K-171&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Soviet submarine K-171 (page does not exist)"><em>K-171</em></a> accidentally released a nuclear warhead. The warhead was recovered after a search involving dozens of ships and aircraft.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-61">[61]</a></li> </ul></li> <li>January 24, 1978 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territories" title="Northwest Territories">Northwest Territories</a>, Canada – Spill of nuclear fuel <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954" title="Kosmos 954">Kosmos 954</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RORSAT" title="RORSAT">Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite</a> with an onboard nuclear reactor, failed to separate from its booster and broke up on reentry over Canada. The fuel was spread over a wide area and some radioactive pieces were recovered. The Soviet Union eventually paid the Canadian government $3 million <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_dollar" title="Canadian dollar">CAD</a> for expenses relating to the crash.</li> </ul></li> <li>May 22, 1978 – near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound" title="Puget Sound">Puget Sound</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_%28state%29" title="Washington (state)">Washington</a>, United States – Spill of irradiated water <ul><li>A valve was mistakenly opened aboard the submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Puffer_%28SSN-652%29" title="USS Puffer (SSN-652)">USS <em>Puffer</em></a> releasing up to 500 US gallons (1,900 l; 420 imp gal) of radioactive water.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-Kaplan1983-59">[59]</a></li> </ul></li> </ul><p><strong>1980s</strong></p> <ul><li>September 18, 1980 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion" title="1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion">1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Air_Force_Base" title="Little Rock Air Force Base">Little Rock AFB</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas" title="Arkansas">Arkansas</a> – At about 6:30 p.m., an airman conducting maintenance on a USAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-25C_Titan_II" title="LGM-25C Titan II">Titan-II</a> missile at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Air_Force_Base" title="Little Rock Air Force Base">Little Rock Air Force Base</a>'s Launch Complex 374-7 in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southside,_Van_Buren_County,_Arkansas" title="Southside, Van Buren County, Arkansas">Southside</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buren_County,_Arkansas" title="Van Buren County, Arkansas">Van Buren county</a>), just north of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus,_Arkansas" title="Damascus, Arkansas">Damascus, Arkansas</a>, dropped a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_wrench" title="Socket wrench">socket</a> from a socket wrench, which fell about 80 feet (24 m) before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak. The area was evacuated. At about 3:00 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-hour_clock" title="12-hour clock">a.m.</a>, on September 19, 1980, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic" title="Hypergolic">hypergolic</a> fuel exploded. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B53_nuclear_bomb" title="B53 nuclear bomb">W53</a> warhead landed about 100 feet (30 m) from the launch complex's entry gate; its safety features operated correctly and prevented any loss of radioactive material. An Air Force airman was killed and the launch complex was destroyed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-62">[62]</a></li> <li>February 1982 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreev_Bay_nuclear_accident" title="Andreev Bay nuclear accident">Andreev Bay nuclear accident</a></li> <li>August 8, 1982 – While on duty in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barents_Sea" title="Barents Sea">Barents Sea</a>, there was a release of liquid metal coolant from the reactor of the Soviet Project 705 <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_class_submarine" title="Alfa class submarine"><em>Alfa</em>-class submarine</a> <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_submarine_K-123&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Soviet submarine K-123 (page does not exist)"><em>K-123</em></a>. The accident was caused by a leak in the steam generator. Approximately two tons of metal alloy leaked into the reactor compartment, irreparably damaging the reactor so it had to be replaced. It took nine years to repair the submarine.</li> <li>January 3, 1983 – The Soviet nuclear-powered spy satellite <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_1402" title="Kosmos 1402">Kosmos 1402</a> burns up over the South Atlantic.</li> <li>August 10, 1985 – About 35 miles (56 km) from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok" title="Vladivostok">Vladivostok</a> in <a class="new" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chazhma_Bay&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Chazhma Bay (page does not exist)">Chazhma Bay</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Navy" title="Soviet Navy">Soviet</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_class_submarine" title="Echo class submarine"><em>Echo</em>-class</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_submarine" title="Nuclear submarine">submarine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-431" title="Soviet submarine K-431"><em>K-431</em></a> suffered a reactor explosion, producing fatally high levels of radiation. Ten men were killed, but the deadly cloud of radioactivity did not reach <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok" title="Vladivostok">Vladivostok</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-63">[63]</a></li> <li>1986 – The U.S. government declassifies 19,000 pages of documents indicating that between 1946 and 1986, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site" title="Hanford Site">Hanford Site</a> near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richland,_Washington" title="Richland, Washington">Richland, Washington</a>, released thousands of <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._liquid_gallon" title="U.S. liquid gallon">US gallons</a> of radioactive liquids. Many of the people living in the affected area received low doses of radiation from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine-131" title="Iodine-131">131I</a>.</li> <li>October 3, 1986 – 480 miles (770 km) east of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda" title="Bermuda">Bermuda</a>, the Soviet <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee-I_class_submarine" title="Yankee-I class submarine"><em>Yankee-I</em>-class</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_missile_submarine" title="Ballistic missile submarine">submarine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-219" title="Soviet submarine K-219"><em>K-219</em></a> experienced an explosion in one of its missile tubes and at least three crew members were killed. Sixteen nuclear missiles and two reactors were on board. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Soviet leader</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> privately communicated news of the disaster to <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States_of_America" title="President of the United States of America">U.S. President</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a> before publicly acknowledging the incident on October 4. Two days later, on October 6, the submarine sank in the Atlantic Ocean while under tow in 18,000 feet (5,500 m) of water.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-64">[64]</a></li> <li>October 1988 – At the nuclear trigger assembly facility at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant" title="Rocky Flats Plant">Rocky Flats</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado" title="Colorado">Colorado</a>, two employees and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy" title="United States Department of Energy">D.O.E.</a> inspector inhaled radioactive particles, causing closure of the plant. Several safety violations were cited, including uncalibrated monitors, inadequate fire equipment, and groundwater contaminated with radioactivity.</li> </ul><p><strong>1990s</strong></p> <ul><li>1997 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28country%29" title="Georgia (country)">Georgian</a> soldiers suffer radiation poisoning and burns. They are eventually traced back to training sources abandoned, forgotten, and unlabeled after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Dissolution of the Soviet Union">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a>. One was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium-137" title="Caesium-137">137Cs</a> pellet in a pocket of a shared jacket which put out about 130,000 times the level of background radiation at 1 meter distance.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-65">[65]</a></li> </ul><p><strong>2000s</strong></p> <ul><li>12 August 2000, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barents_Sea" title="Barents Sea">Barents Sea</a>, the Russian submarine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_submarine_disaster" title="Kursk submarine disaster">Kursk sank</a> during a naval exercise. All 118 on board were killed. The nuclear reactor compartment withstood the initial explosions, allowing the two reactors to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scram" title="Scram">automatically shut down</a> and prevent a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_meltdown" title="Nuclear meltdown">nuclear meltdown</a> and widespread contamination of the sea. Parts of the submarine were later raised and the nuclear reactors were successfully de-fueled.</li> <li>February 2003: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee" title="Oak Ridge, Tennessee">Oak Ridge, Tennessee</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex" title="Y-12 National Security Complex">Y-12</a> facility. During the final testing of a new saltless <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium" title="Uranium">uranium</a> processing method, there was a small explosion followed by a fire. The explosion occurred in an unvented vessel containing unreacted calcium, water and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium" title="Depleted uranium">depleted uranium</a>. An <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exothermic" title="Exothermic">exothermic</a> reaction in the vessel generated enough steam to burst the container. This small explosion breached its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glovebox" title="Glovebox">glovebox</a>, allowing air to enter and ignite some loose uranium powder. Three employees were contaminated. BWXT Y-12 (now B&amp;W Y-12), a partnership of <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BWXT" title="BWXT">Babcock &amp; Wilcox</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtel" title="Bechtel">Bechtel</a>, was fined $82,500 for the accident.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents#cite_note-66">[66]</a></li> </ul><p class="rtecenter"><strong>- - - - - - - - -</strong></p> <p>~OGD~</p> </div></div></div> Wed, 11 Jan 2017 22:45:55 +0000 oldenGoldenDecoy comment 232423 at http://dagblog.com Read the book when it came http://dagblog.com/comment/232424#comment-232424 <a id="comment-232424"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/232423#comment-232423"> Yes Dick... SNAFU</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Read the book when it came out. The 60's NCarolina incident where a megaton nuke accidentally armed after a bomber crashed was only prevented from detonation by a open two dollar electric switch that hadn't closed.</p> <p>The author noted having a detonation system that was sure to work was always in play against ensuring that it would not detonate if mishandled or in a fire or accident.</p> </div></div></div> Wed, 11 Jan 2017 22:45:22 +0000 NCD comment 232424 at http://dagblog.com Oh hi Ducky. http://dagblog.com/comment/232413#comment-232413 <a id="comment-232413"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/hair-raising-must-see-film-21697">A Hair Raising Must See Film</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Oh hi Ducky.</p> <p>I hope this is on point; but there were instances (more than a few) where the US or the USSR lost some bombs.</p> <p>hahahah</p> <p>Nuclear Bombs.</p> <p>They lost them off of the Carolinas and they lost them in the Pacific and they lost them.....</p> <p>I certainly will check out your link.</p> <p>I just recall reading about human error.</p> <p>Humans make mistakes of course.</p> <p>and machines built by humans make mistakes.</p> <p>And....how the fuck can we, as a species, survive these kinds of mistakes.</p> <p>ha</p> </div></div></div> Wed, 11 Jan 2017 19:44:52 +0000 Richard Day comment 232413 at http://dagblog.com