Air Force insisted that H-bombs released over North Carolina were no danger to detonate. It lied.

[deminks]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/eric-schlosser-command-control-excerpt-nuclear-weapons

On January 23, 1961, a B-52 packing a pair of Mark 39 hydrogen bombs suffered a refueling snafu and went into an uncontrolled spin over North Carolina. In the cockpit of the rapidly disintegrating bomber (only one crew member bailed out safely) was a lanyard attached to the bomb-release mechanism. Intense G-forces tugged hard at it and unleashed the nukes, which, at four megatons, were 250 times more powerful than the weapon that leveled Hiroshima. One of them "failed safe" and plummeted to the ground unarmed. The other weapon's failsafe mechanisms—the devices designed to prevent an accidental detonation—were subverted one by one, as Eric Schlosser recounts in his new book, Command and Control:

When the lanyard was pulled, the locking pins were removed from one of the bombs. The Mark 39 fell from the plane. The arming wires were yanked out, and the bomb responded as though it had been deliberately released by the crew above a target. The pulse generator activated the low-voltage thermal batteries. The drogue parachute opened, and then the main chute. The barometric switches closed. The timer ran out, activating the high-voltage thermal batteries. The bomb hit the ground, and the piezoelectric crystals inside the nose crushed. They sent a firing signal...

Unable to deny that two of its bombs had fallen from the sky—one in a swampy meadow, the other in a field near Faro, North Carolina—the Air Force insisted that there had never been any danger of a nuclear detonation. This was a lie.

(snip)

The anecdote above is just one of many "holy shit!" revelations readers will discover in the latest book from the best-selling author of Fast Food Nation. Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's "broken arrows" (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical—this stuff is top secret, after all—but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert.

(end snip)

[stevenleser]

1. Between the various nuclear powers,its a miracle there were no accidental explosions or wars started

I've seen various reports of the broken arrow incidents both here and in the other nuclear club members. It's scary stuff.

[Recursion]

2. A case study in the value of positive controls

On the other hand, this raises the question of how reliable our nuclear arsenal would have been in a war; no modern nuclear device has ever been tested under realistic conditions.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Ever see this video?

A Nuclear detonation timeline. Take ten minutes and watch;

[stevenleser]

5. I've seen that before but good to have a reminder. It's another sobering piece of information.

It really is amazing we are all still here.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Go to Google Earth or Google Maps....

And look up the Nevada Test range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_National_Security_Site\

Click on the coordinates at the top right of that page and then select the map view you want. Google Maps Satellite works fine.

The valley floor has so many scars from detonations, it looks as if it has acne.

[TeeYiYi]

7. That was disturbing. ..nt

TYY

[Stargazer09]

4. Interesting

I'll read it when it's released. I wonder how much is historically accurate and how much is "this is what I think happened."

[stevenleser]

6. I tried to look into it just now. It looks like most of his info comes from FOIA requests and

from speaking to as many actual folks involved as possible. I'm inclined to think this is factual for now.

[Stargazer09]

13. It probably is factual

But there is always the possibility of adding some creative embellishments to any story. I'm usually skeptical until I actually get my hands on the book.

[PamW]

18. FOIA???

If the basis of his information is FOIA requests; then I would be inclined to DISBELIEVE what he says.

The reason is that the workings of nuclear weapons and their safety devices; as well as the details of "broken arrow" incidents are classified.

You can't get classified information from a FOIA request. That is the first of the 9 exceptions of the FOIA law:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_%28United_States%29

The nine exemptions to the FOIA address issues of sensitivity and personal rights. They are (as listed in Title 5 of the United States Code, section 552):

(A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;
related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency;
specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;[6] FOIA Exemption 3 Statutes
trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential;
inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency
personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual;
contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions;[6] or
geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

Additionally, anyone who REALLY KNOWS about such things; is precluded from talking about them. Therefore, if he has interviewed people who are talking to him about this; then he's talking to people who really don't know what they are talking about.

PamW

[stevenleser]

20. You are quoting the general potential for exceptions to FOIA. That doesn't preclude specifics.

A President can declassify any specific report at any time and not just on this topic.

[PamW]

22. Actually..

Most classified information is classified by an Executive Order of the President. The current Executive Order for classification is E.O. 13526:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-classified-national-security-information

Nuclear weapons information is different. It is classified on the authority of a LAW passed by Congress; namely the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 as amended by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Energy_Act_of_1946

SEC. 10. (a) Policy-It shall be the policy of the Commission to control the dissemination of restricted data in such a manner as to assure the common defense and security. Consistent with such policy, the Commission shall be guided by the following principles.

The term “restricted data” as used in this section means all data concerning the manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, the production of fissionable material, or the use of fissionable material in the production of power, but shall not include any data which the Commission from time to time determines may be published without adversely affecting the common defense and security

The Congress saw fit in the 1954 act to make available to the public, and our allies; information with regard to nuclear power.

However, the information about nuclear weapons and their technology is still protected by a LAW of Congress.

For example, then President Clinton had to modify his version of the classification Executive Order which added automatic declassification after 25 years. The problem was that some documents had "restricted data" defined by the Atomic Energy Act in them, and "restricted data" isn't subject to automatic declassification. See the following from the Federation of American Scientists:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/bulletin/sec74.html

Clinton modified E.O. 12958 so that it wouldn't conflict with the Atomic Energy Act which is a LAW.

PamW

[stevenleser]

23. Very interesting. I did not know that. Good research!

[Mnemosyne]

8. K&R nt

[broiles]

10. The book is reviewed in NYT's book section today.

[MineralMan]

11. This excerpt leaves out the part about the master arming switch in

the cockpit not being in the Armed position. That's in the copy at the link, but it's a very important part of the equation. The reality is that the weapon could not detonate because of that switch. It did fail safe. It did not detonate.

Here's the part that was left out:

The only thing standing between us and an explosion so catastrophic that it would have radically altered the course of history was a simple electronic toggle switch in the cockpit, a part that probably cost a couple of bucks to manufacture and easily could have been undermined by a short circuit—hardly a far-fetched scenario in an electronics-laden airplane that's breaking apart.

While this was minimized, that master arming switch is the key factor. It didn't just cost a couple of bucks, either. Rather, it is a very expensive switch, with guards on it to prevent accidentally switching it to the Armed position. It was not in the Armed position. The device could not have detonated. It could not have "easily been undermined by a short circuit." It is designed to be very difficult to move to the Armed position. It has interlocks. It could not have been switched by accident, gravity, or anything other than a deliberate, careful action by a human being.

It's interesting to read this account, from the perspective of actually understanding the systems involved. That lets you see the fudging that was done to the facts. The device could not have detonated. It failed safe, as designed.

[Stargazer09]

14. I found that statement suspect, too

A master arming switch was likely to be very difficult to switch to "armed." Too much is at stake for it to be easily triggered.

It will be interesting to read the author's version of what happened, because the B-52 doesn't have what the average person would consider to be a "regular" cockpit.

[MineralMan]

15. Yes, and you won't find any photos of that Master Arming Switch, either.

I haven't been in the cockpit of a B-52 since 1966, so it all may have changed by now, and I'm sure it's classified. But, it's still designed to make arming and releasing nuclear devices difficult and deliberate. It won't happen by accident.

Sadly, books written to make a point often slip into fudging facts to make the point. I object to that.

[Stargazer09]

16. I'm not sure how much has changed

Hubby flew on the same plane until 2006, and he's geeky enough to know the differences between the older and newer models. He's overseas right now, and our limited communications usually focus on family issues, but I am going to ask him for a quick opinion when he calls before bedtime. I'm sure we will both read the book when he gets home.

Sensationalism does tend to sell more books than a completely accurate accounting of what really happened. I'm going to reserve judgement until I can actually read the book, but I'm skeptical that an author famous for exposing fast food restaurant practices would treat the Air Force fairly.

[MineralMan]

17. I never flew on a B-52. I was fortunate enough to get a cockpit

tour once, while in the USAF. It was most cool to sit in it and have a pilot show me what was what.

[PamW]

19. PALs are your pals....

MineralMan,

Additionally, nuclear weapons have always had "locks" on them called PALs for "Permissive Action Links".

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

The "keys" for unlocking the PALs are the codes that the President's aide carries around in the "nuclear football", which you no doubt have heard about.

I also question the relevance of the book to the modern day nuclear arsenal. As detailed above; the technology of these locks has been steadily improving over the decades. Even if the locks on a 1950s weapon left something to be desired; how is that relevant or indicative of the safety of modern weapons with more advanced locking devices?

A previous generation deemed the locks that they had at the time as good enough when considered in the context of the Cold War which was being fought at the time. Perhaps they were taking a chance; but nothing happened. There were no accidental nuclear explosions.

Some evidently would attempt to make the argument that if the locks weren't good enough then; then they are not good enough now. That doesn't follow logically.

Back in the late 1930s, the German aviation industry took a chance in operating their massive airship, the Hindenburg, with hydrogen gas instead of the helium gas for which it was designed, but the USA embargoed from Germany.

Because they took a chance, and LOST; back then; does that logically mean that flying today on Lufthansa is unsafe?

Of course it doesn't.

PamW

[MineralMan]

21. Thanks for adding that information.

Bottom line is that those weapons would not have detonated. The book skips the reasons why in an attempt to promote the idea that we're a hair's breadth from nuclear destruction.

Advocacy book-writing does not always lead to truth. In fact, it should be examined carefully before belief.

That seems to be a missing thing for some folks. Critical thinking is difficult.

[BillyRibs]

12. We Have No reason,

To believe the government any more. Accident, Post storm Help, Military, or run up to war. We will always be lied to. Hell if I pulled any stunt that involved Lying, I would be fired.