Evening star., 1960-06-16

AcclQenCS involving atomic
weapons, like the one at Nc
Guire Air Force Base, N. j., last
week, will happen again and
again, Pentagon officials con-
cede.
But, they add, interlocking
safety features make the odds
against an accidental full
fledged nuclear explosion about
a trillion to one.
This was the giSt Of a brief
ing given newsmen yesterday in
the guarded quarters of the
Defense Atomic Support Agen-
cy, on the ground floor of the
Pentagon. The conference OBJ
viously was called in response
to reporters requests based on
the incident at Mcclure June 7.
BOmarc Burns
On that date, a Bomarc mis-
sile caught fire in its hangar at
the New Jersey base 20 miles
southeast of Trenton. Parts of
the nuclear warhead in the
anti-aircraft weapon we're
melted by the flames.
Conflicting reports-includ-
ing one to the effect that the
atomic warhead had exploded
threw sections of the New
York metropolitan area into
near panic.
A muShroom-clo blast as a
result of such an incident is
virtually beyond the realm of
possibility, DASA officials said.
THE statistical probability of
a nuclear accident is essen
TALLY negligible" one briefing
officer said. He placed the
chances somewhere between 10
billion and quadrillion to one.
But he added:
Wen have another accident
like Mcclure"
All Weapons Dangerous
The reason for such mishaps,
DASA spokesmen said, lies in
the inherent dangerouSness of
all weapons.
The problem is to keep weap-
ons safe until it is intended
to make them dangerous" an
official asserted.
After IA years of handling
nuclear weapons, the official
added, the safety record is per-
feet. All accidents have been
due to the carrier-airplane or
missile-and the nuclear part
has not contributed to the ac-
cident or to the damage done,
he said.
The real atomic peril in such
accidents as the MCGUIRE affair
is the possibility of atom bomb
material being scattered, DASA
said. About 400 teams stationed
in various parts of the country
are on permanent call to cope
with possible contamination
through scattering of uranium
or plutonium. Four teams are
In the Washington area.
Standards OF Safety Set
Safety standards have been
set up, DASA said, to guard
against unauthorized nuclear
explosion through accidents,
acts of psychotic persons or
saboteurs, human error, or lax
security"
Accidental discharge of the
atomic force is prevented pri-
marily through bomb design,
DASA said. Normal a-bombs
contain a loosely packed lump
of plutonium or uranium inside
a sphere of ordinary high
explosive. like INT.
Until the atomic material is
compressed. it will not explode
spontaneously. This compress
sion is achieved by "implosion"
of the TNT-its explosion in
ward by means of many deto-
mating caps set around the
surface of the sphere.
Storage Measures
The first step in preventing
accidents is Inert storage"
The power supply which might
detonate the blasting caps is
eliminated by removing the
bombs batteries while it is be-
ing kept in storage areas.
Safety switches are relied on
to interrupt the current from
battery to bomb when the war
head is placed in a ready-for-
action missile. Finally, detailed
safety procedures which call for
a precise sequence of actions
insure that the bomb will not
go off because sons body
goofed."
A different set of precautions
Is designed to thwart saboteurS