Definitely a must read ...

David Morton · 03-07-07, 05:16 PM

If you ever had a stand point about nucular (Nuclear) issues read this in it's entirety. It's mortifying.
http://www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/accidents.htm

Scott Calabro · 03-07-07, 05:51 PM

Dave,

Here's my stand...

The USA has detonated over 100 Atomic weapons at its Mercury Nevada test site. I wonder how many "Accidents" IVAN has had, or how about China, France, England, Pakistan or India.

How come that report doesn't speak to those issues ?
Biased reports won't do that.

Not one US unintended above ground detonation has ever occured.

Our saftey record speaks for itself.... FREEDOM ISN'T FREE !!!

Enjoy it while you still can.

S

I gotta go eat supper, Mrs. Satan made Shrimp Fra Di avolo !
I'll be back for more later....

David Morton · 03-07-07, 07:34 PM

Nothing political Scott. If the UK published such a list, I would imagine it would still be classified under our antiquated system. Quite a lot of 'our' nuculars were from the USA anyway, but here is a list of what the UK cobbled together:
Name
I didn't realise how many variants were made here.

BenL · 03-07-07, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Morton

Nothing political Scott. If the UK published such a list, I would imagine it would still be classified under our antiquated system. Quite a lot of 'our' nuculars were from the USA anyway, but here is a list of what the UK cobbled together:
Name
I didn't realise how many variants were made here.

Why are they so fascinated with the name "Blue"?

I love this bit of understatement.

"there was a blanket ban on Scimitars landing on carriers while carrying Red Beard, just in case the jolt of an arrested landing created a situation."

"a situation"?

Such as the entire aircraft carrier being vaporized during a bad landing?

David Morton · 03-08-07, 04:09 AM

Ben,
I think Blue and Yellow were generally Nuclear, Red was conventional.
A few scary situations such as

October, 5, 1960, Thule, Greenland
An early-warning system radar malfunction falsely warned the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) headquarters of a "massive" Soviet ballistic missile strike approaching the United States. A fault in the computer system had removed two zeros from the radar's ranging components, causing the radar to detect what it believed was a possible missile attack at 2,500 miles. The radar was actually detecting a reflection from the moon, located 250,000 miles away.

followed by

"We have highly trained and experienced personnel in charge of all phases of the warning process, and there is no chance that any irreversible actions would be taken based on ambiguous computer information."
-Annual Report to the Congress for Fiscal Year 1982, Department of Defense, p. 121

Sort of a Dr. Strangelove incident....

then accident at Lakenheath in 1956 where eastern England would have become a desert.....And the Greenham Common accident in 1958 and the subsequent cover up by the British (MacMillan) Government.

Pete. · 03-08-07, 04:46 AM

I tend to agree with Scott, the price of freedom ain't cheap.
However It seems inevitable that sooner or later human error will result in a really bad day.
But banning Nuclear weapons is about as stupid as banning guns. The good guys hand in the weapons and the bad guys keep theirs. Not a smart move.

Russ Noble · 03-08-07, 05:22 AM

Yeah, and whilst some countries are punished by the US for not wanting to have anything to do with nuclear, (ie trade and other sanctions etc) others are also punished or invaded because they want to!

Hmmm......Confusing....

Tony Hunt · 03-08-07, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Morton

Here is a list of what the UK cobbled together:
Name
I didn't realise how many variants were made here.

Fascinating stuff, Dave.
For the first time since 1966, I have been able to identify that the Canberra's nuclear capability in Cyprus was based on Red Beard. We had to go 'down the hole' once a month and practice arming the thing by stuffing a 9" diameter sphere into it.
Cyprus Canberras were also involved in flight trials of the WE177, but didn't know it as that at the time.
Both weapons were delivered by the LABS manouevre.
PS You aren't half as pretty as your avatar.

David Morton · 03-08-07, 05:44 AM

There are the 30 and 50 year disclosure restrictions in the UK on cabinet and white papers etc., and there is a 100 year aspect as well though I believe it relates to HM the Queen and, possibly, the naked doorman man at Cliveden. The papers that are released will never show anything about the Nuclear aspect of government. It will always remain shrouded in secrecy so I applaud the USA in giving this sort of information. I cannot even find any reference to the 'thing' we and the USN carried until the early 1990's though it was admitted at the time that it was on board.

Pete. · 03-08-07, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ Noble

Yeah, and whilst some countries are punished by the US for not wanting to have anything to do with nuclear, (ie trade and other sanctions etc) others are also punished or invaded because they want to!

Hmmm......Confusing....

IMHO, I think that happens because it is O.K. for your buddy to carry a big stick, but if your enemy tries to pick one up, both you and your buddy stop him.

Pete. · 03-08-07, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Morton

There are the 30 and 50 year disclosure restrictions in the UK on cabinet and white papers etc., and there is a 100 year aspect as well though I believe it relates to HM the Queen and, possibly, the naked doorman man at Cliveden. The papers that are released will never show anything about the Nuclear aspect of government. It will always remain shrouded in secrecy so I applaud the USA in giving this sort of information. I cannot even find any reference to the 'thing' we and the USN carried until the early 1990's though it was admitted at the time that it was on board.

Hi David, that is what the pollies in OZ call "Transparent Government"