Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

"USAF reveals 2014 nuclear 'mishap' that damaged ICBM"

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • "USAF reveals 2014 nuclear 'mishap' that damaged ICBM"

    So...

    Someone was checking an ICBM... and damaged it. The fixer... damaged it more. Well, that's fun...

    This has all the hallmarks of a SyFy movie. "Damaged missile goes BOOOM! Mutants galore!!"





    Yes, I know they don't simply go BOOM like that, but if I was in that silo and someone said "oops", I think I'd need a new pair of trousers...

  • #2
    The last one was better - the one in 2008 where they had a fire in a room next to the missile that melted through the duct tape apparently used to tape down an umbilical cable directly connected to the missile. And they didn't notice the fire until five days later.

    From the AP report on the current one:
    The amount of damage to the missile - $1.8 million, according to the Air Force - suggests that the airmen's errors might have caused physical damage, Kristensen said.

    That's about 4 months worth of its average in-service upkeep cost. Or about 5% of what it'd cost to buy a new missile today.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by kato View Post
      the last one was better - the one in 2008 where they had a fire in a room next to the missile that melted through the duct tape apparently used to tape down an umbilical cable directly connected to the missile. And they didn't notice the fire until five days later.
      ... Holly crud!!!!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        Last year, I finished reading a book called "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety", by Eric Schlosser, and it's amazing how many accidents there have been involving nuclear weapons in the last 60 years, and how close we came on several occasions to a major disaster. Granted, it is very difficult to initiate a nuclear reaction, let alone a thermonuclear reaction, but a lot of weapons still contain enough explosives and radioactive materials to do some serious damage, both physically and ecologically.

        According to the book, over 32 "broken arrow" incidents have occurred over a thirty year span, several of them happening either in or near major population centers. So, to put this most recent incident into perspective, it is statistically normal to have an accident of this magnitude every few years due to the overall complexity of the US nuclear infrastructure (scary but true!).

        Nuclear 'Command And Control': A History Of False Alarms And Near Catastrophes

        Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
        "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

        Comment

        Working...
        X