Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Atom earth mother

Ho visto il post di Maiselle.
Molta gente non sa con cosa stanno giocando i grandi.
Fa la inorridta per un niente.
Queste sono le bombe atomiche USA che hanno avuto incidenti.
Le stesse cose sono successe in URSS ma non si sanno.
Toccatevi i coglioni.
5 agosto 1950, Base Suisun dell’Air Force, Farfield, California
Un bombardiere B-29 che trasportava una bomba nucleare senza la sua capsula
fissile si schiantò e si incendiò vicino ad un campeggio di roulotte
occupato da 200 famiglie. L’equipaggio aveva difficoltà con i propulsori
dell’aereo e con il ritiro del suo carrello di atterraggio immediatamente
dopo il decollo dalla Base dell’Air Force di Fairfield Suisun (ora base
dell’Air Force di Travis), schiantandosi infine mentre tentava un
atterraggio di emergenza. Il bombardiere stava trasportando 10-12.500 libbre
di bombe con esplosivo convenzionale, che detonarono 15 minuti dopo lo
schianto. L’esplosione che seguì, fu sentita fino a 30 miglia lontano e creò
un cratere largo da un capo all’altro 20 iarde e profondo sei piedi Lo
schianto e la successiva detonazione uccise diciotto uomini del personale,
incluso il generale Travis dell’Air Force, e ferì altre 60 persone.
 
22 Maggio 1957 base dell’Air Force di Kirtland, New Mexico
Una bomba nucleare senza la sua capsula fissile cadde dal vano bombe di un
B-36 ad un’altitudine di 1700 piedi ed esplose all’impatto. Il bombardiere
stava trasportando entrambe le bombe e la loro capsula fissile, che era
stata rimossa per sicurezza, dalla base di Biggs dell’Air Force in Texas
alla base di Kirtland in New Messico. Sebbene i paracaduti attaccati alla
bomba si fossero aperti durante la sua caduta, essi non funzionarono
correttamente. La bomba nucleare fu completamente distrutta nella
detonazione che accadde approssimativamente a 4,5 miglia a sud della torre
di controllo di Kirtland e 0,3 miglia ad ovest del terreno riservato della
Sandia Base creando un cratere d’esplosione di approssimativamente 25 piedi
in diametro e 12 piedi di profondità. I frammenti della bomba e i detriti
furono dispersi su di un area di un miglio. Fu condotto un esame radiologico
dell’area, ma non rivelò contaminazione radioattiva oltre l’orlo del
cratere.
 
31 gennaio 1958, base straniera non identificata
Un bombardiere B-47 con una bomba nucleare in configurazione d’attacco stava
compiendo un decollo simulato durante un’esercitazione quando la ruota
posteriore sinistra venne a mancare, provocando l’urto della coda contro la
pista e la rottura del serbatoio del carburante. L’aereo prese fuoco e
bruciò per sette ore. Sebbene l’alto esplosivo non detonò, ci fu
contaminazione nell’area immediatamente circostante allo schianto. In
seguito all’incidente, le esercitazioni di allertamento vennero
temporaneamente sospese. Lo schianto può aver avuto luogo in una base aerea
USA a Sidi Slimane, nel Marocco Francese. Un più recente documento dell’Air
Force riportò che “l’inquinamento dei rottami era alto, ma che sull’area
circostante era basso”. Un servizio del New York Times dell’8 giugno 1960,
menziona un incidente di bomba nucleare che era accaduto “in un campo degli
Stati Uniti vicino Tripoli, in Libia”, senza fornire ulteriori dettagli.
 
Febbraio 1958, base aerea Greenham Common, Inghilterra
Un bombardiere B-47 che stava subendo un guasto al motore durante il decollo
espulse due cisterne piene di carburante da 1700 galloni da un’altitudine di
8000 piedi, le quali mancarono di cadere nell’area designata per un impatto
sicuro ed esplosero a 65 piedi dietro un B-47 parcheggiato e caricato con
bombe nucleari. Il fuoco che ne derivò bruciò per 16 ore e causò la
deflagrazione delle alte cariche esplosive di almeno una bomba atomica.
L’esplosione rilasciò materiale radioattivo, includendo uranio polverizzato
e ossido di plutonio, dei quali almeno 10-20 grammi vennero trovati intorno
alla base. Inoltre un hangar adiacente fu gravemente danneggiato e altri
aerei vicini furono spruzzati con pompe d’acqua per prevenire il loro
incendio a causa dell’intenso calore alimentato dal combustibile per jet e
dal magnesio del B-47. Il fuoco uccise due persone, ne ferì altre otto, e
distrusse il bombardiere.
 L’Air Force non ha mai ammesso ufficialmente che armi nucleari fossero
coinvolte in questo incidente. L’Air Force e il ministro della difesa
inglese furono d’accordo nel 1956 di negare l’esistenza delle bombe nucleari
in qualsiasi incidente che coinvolgeva le armi nucleari statunitensi
collocate in Inghilterra. Nel 1985, il governo inglese riferì che
l’incidente che coinvolse un B-47 parcheggiato il quale fu colpito da un
B-47 in fase di decollo in un esercizio di addestramento, omettendo ogni
menzione del successivo incendio.
 
26 novembre 1958, base Chennault dell’Air Force, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Un bombardiere B-47 prese fuoco a terra, distruggendo la sola bomba nucleare
a bordo. La contaminazione fu limitata all’immediata vicinanza dei rottami
dell’aereo.
 
6 Luglio 1959, base Barksdale dell’Air Force, Dossier City, Louisiana
Un aereo C-124 che trasportava una bomba nucleare senza la sua capsula
fissile si schiantò durante il decollo, distruggendo completamente l’aereo e
la bomba nucleare. Ci fu una quantità limitata di contaminazione
immediatamente sotto alla bomba distrutta, ma non abbastanza da impedire
operazioni di salvataggio o di spegnimento.
 
7 giugno 1960, base McGuire dell’Air Force, vicino Trenton, New Jersey
Un missile BOMARC (“BO” per Boeing e “MARC” per Michigan Areonautical
Research Center) per la difesa aerea, che era stato immagazzinato in uno
stato di pronto utilizzo che permetteva il suo lancio in due minuti, fu
distrutto dopo l’esplosione di un serbatoio con elio ad alta pressione e la
rottura del serbatoio di carburante del missile. Anche se la testata fu
distrutta dall’incendio, il dispositivo di sicurezza agì correttamente e
prevenne la detonazione della carica altamente esplosiva della bomba. Un
articolo del New York Times descrisse uno scampato disastro nucleare,
notando che il missile “si fuse sotto una fiamma intensa alimentata dal suo
detonatore da 100 libbre di TNT… La testata atomica si sciolse
apparentemente nella massa fusa che era rimasta del missile, il quale bruciò
per quarantacinque minuti”. Le radiazioni seguenti “furono causate quando la
parte metallica di magnesio e ossido di torio, che forma parte della bomba,
presero fuoco”. Il rapporto del Pentagono affermò che fu contaminata solo
l’area immediatamente sotto la bomba nucleare e, a causa del deflusso
dell’acqua di spegnimento dell’incendio, un’area adiacente estesa per la
lunghezza di 100 piedi.
 
13 novembre 1963, Commissione per l’Immagazzinamento dell’Energia Nucleare
negli Igloo, Base Medina, San Antonio, Texas
Mentre tre lavoratori stavano smontando i componenti dell’alto esplosivo (HE
“High esplosive”) di una bomba atomica, essi cominciarono a bruciare
spontaneamente, provocando una grande esplosione che coinvolse 120 libbre di
HE. L’esplosione causò una piccola contaminazione.
 Al dottor Joel Larus dell’Università di New York, che investigò
sull’incidente, la Commissione dell’Energia Atomica (AEC) il 13 gennaio 1966
fornì i dettagli di tre incidenti simili. Essi sono i seguenti:
Hamburg, New York (4 gennaio 1958)…
Un treno merci diretto a est deragliò nella ferrovia Nickel Plate. Cinque
automobili che trasportavano “materiale classificato AEC” furono coinvolte
nell’incidente. Secondo il rapporto non ci fu alcun danno al materiale e
alcun ferito tra il personale AEC che scortava il carico.
Winslow, Arizona (4 novembre 1961)…
Il rimorchio di un autocarro prese fuoco mentre trasportava una piccola
quantità di materiale radioattivo. Non ci fu alcuna contaminazione
risultante dall’incendio.
Marietta Georgia (2 dicembre 1962)… Un treno per Louisville e Nashville
deragliò mentre trasportava componenti di armi nucleari. Il materiale non fu
danneggiato ma tre corrieri rimasero feriti.
 
Come questi rapporti dimostrano, incidenti di questa natura probabilmente
accadono più frequentemente di quanto vengono riferiti. Per esempio, un
rimorchio del Dipartimento dell’Energia che trasportava plutonio da
Richland, Washington, nel New Messico, si capovolse sulla strada ghiacciata
dell’Interstatale 25 vicino Fort Collins, Colorado, nel dicembre 1980.
 
8 dicembre 1964, base Bunker Hill (ora Grisson) dell’Air Force, Perù,
Indiana
Un bombardiere B-58 perse il controllo e uscì dalla pista durante la fase di
decollo, causando ad una parte delle cinque bombe nucleari a bordo di
bruciare in un conseguente incendio. Non ci furono detonazioni e la
contaminazione fu limitata all’immediata area dell’incidente.
 
11 ottobre 1965, base Wright-Patterson dell’Air Force, vicino Dayton, Ohio
Un aereo C-124 da trasporto che conteneva componenti di armi nucleari e un
modello per l’addestramento prese fuoco mentre veniva rifornito. Il fuoco
cominciò a bruciare nella parte finale del rimorchio di rifornimento e
distrusse la fusoliera dell’aereo. Non ci furono vittime e le conseguenze
del pericolo di radiazioni furono minime.
 
17 gennaio 1966, Palomares, Spagna
Un bombardiere B-52 che trasportava quattro bombe all’idrogeno si scontrò a
mezz’aria con un aereo cisterna Kc-135 vicino Palomares, in Spagna. Delle
quattro bombe H a bordo, due bombe con materiale altamente esplosivo
detonarono nell’impatto con il suolo, rilasciando materiali radioattivi,
incluso il plutonio, sopra i campi di Palomares. Approssimativamente 1400
tonnellate di terreno e vegetazione lievemente contaminati furono portati
successivamente negli Stati Uniti per l’immagazzinamento in un luogo
autorizzato. Una terza bomba nucleare cadde sul terreno ma rimase
relativamente intatta; l’ultima cadde nell’oceano. La bomba che affondò nel
Mediterraneo diede luogo ad una delle più grandi ricerche e operazioni di
recupero nella storia. La ricerca prese circa otto giorni e impiegò 3000
uomini del personale della marina e 33 navi, senza contare le barche, gli
aeroplani, e il personale usato per portare l’equipaggiamento sul luogo.
Benché il piccolo sottomarino “Alvin” localizzò la bomba dopo due settimane,
non fu recuperata prima del 7 aprile. I rottami dell’incidente caddero in
un’area approssimativamente di 100 miglia quadrate di suolo e acqua.
 
Data sconosciuta
L’incidente accadde durante un’operazione di routine di rifornimento ad alta
quota mentre il B-52 stava ritornando alla base Seymour Johnson dell’Air
Force a Goldsboro, nel North Carolina, dopo aver sorvolato lungo la rotta
meridionale della missione di allertamento aereo dello Strategic Air Command
denominata in codice “Chrome Dome”. Il bombardiere stava attendendo il suo
terzo rifornimento con un aereo cisterna KC-135 dalla base americana a
Morton, quando il boccaglio del braccio per il rifornimento dell’aereo
cisterna urtò il bombardiere. Il braccio squarciò il B-52 lungo il suo
dorso, spezzando il bombardiere in vari pezzi. I 40.000 galloni di
rifornimento del KC-135 andarono a fuoco, uccidendo sette uomini
dell’equipaggio.
 
 21 gennaio 1968, Thule, Groenlandia
Quattro bombe nucleari furono distrutte in un incendio dopo che il B-52 che
le trasportava si schiantò approssimativamente sette miglia a sudovest della
pista della base dell’Air Force di Thule in Groenlandia. Il B-52,
proveniente dalla base Plattsburgh dell’Air Force di New York, si schiantò
dopo che un incendio si era sprigionato nel compartimento dell’ufficiale di
rotta. Il pilota stava facendo rotta all’AFB di Thule per provare un
atterraggio di emergenza. All’impatto con il suolo, l’aeroplano scoppiò in
fiamme, bruciando gli involucri esterni dell’alto esplosivo che rivestivano
almeno una delle bombe. L’esplosivo allora detonò, spargendo plutonio e
altri materiali radioattivi sopra un’area di circa 300 iarde su entrambi i
lati della traiettoria dell’aereo, molti di essi in pezzi delle dimensioni
di un pacchetto di sigarette. Il bombardiere era stato in volo sulla rotta
del Circolo Artico nell’ambito dell’operazione di volo in permanente
allertamento dello Strategic Air Command, chiamata in codice “Chrome Dome”.
Un membro dell’equipaggio rimase ucciso nello schianto.
 
19 settembre 1980, Damascus, Arkansas
I vapori del combustibile provenienti da un missile balistico
intercontinentale Titan II (ICBM “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile”)
fecero saltar via nella base di lancio del missile la porta da 740
tonnellate di calcestruzzo e acciaio e catapultare la testata del missile
nucleare a 600 piedi. L’incidente accadde quando un addetto alle riparazioni
dell’Air Force lasciò cadere una pesante chiave inglese che colpì il
missile, causando una crepa nella cisterna di carburante pressurizzato del
missile. Il carburante prese fuoco e esplose approssimativamente 8 ore e
mezza più tardi, uccidendo una persona e ferendone altre ventuno. Il veicolo
di rientro del missile, che conteneva una testata nucleare, fu ritrovato
intatto.
--------------------------------
Inviato via 
http://arianna.libero.it/usenet/


Sei gia brillo vero? vecchia spugna.
Il giorno che fara' cilecca un intercontinentale su un SSBN sentiranno il
botto fin su Sirio.
Saluti e bevi meno e' ancora presto.


 5 agosto 1950
[...]
Cut.
Vedo un trend di netta diminuzione degli incidenti, che sono quasi tutti degli 
anni 50 e 60.
IMHO, almeno per l'ottimo materiale USA si può stare tranquilli.
Non garantirei invece per quelle specie di ciabatte volanti che i russi hanno 
reuscitato dallo sfasciacarrozze dopo avercele mandate. Spero che in Groenlandia 
abbiano dei buoni tetti di calcestruzzo rafforzato al piombo.
Tb
-- 
Libertà per i comunisti siriani in carcere: Fateh Jamus, 'Isam Dimashqi,
Basel Hurani, 'Abd al-Halim Rumieh, Ratib Sha'bu, and Doha 'Ashur
al-'Askari 
http://snipurl.com/1oqtm


Ostia e' arrivato il genio ariano.
Scusa se ti sepellisco sotto qualche tonnellata di merda nucleare.
Un piacere guarda.
Toccatevi i coglioni e occhio a quello che bevete, guardate da dove viene.
Io non bevo ne birra ne vini russi ad esempio.
Research Facilities
The U.S. Department of Energy spends over $4 billion each year for the
restoration and management of sites contaminated by nuclear materials. Their
2000 Federal budget noted:
"The Environmental Management (EM) program is responsible for addressing the
environmental legacy resulting from the production of nuclear weapons. The
nuclear weapons complex generated waste, pollution, and contamination that
pose unique problems, including unprecedented volumes of contaminated soil
and water, radiological hazards from special nuclear material, and a vast
number of contaminated structures. Facotries, laboratories, and thousands of
square miles of land were devoted to producing tens of thousands of nuclear
weapons. Much of this is largely maintained, decommissioned, managed, and
remediated by the EM program, which is sometimes referred to as the 'cleanup
program.' EM's responsibilities include facilities and sites in 30 states
and one territory, and occupy an area equal to that of Rhode Island and
Delaware combined - or about 2.1 million acres."
26 July 1959
A clogged coolant channel resulted in a 30% reactor core meltdown at the
Santa Susana Field Laboratory (now known as the Boeing-Rocketdyne Nuclear
Facility) in the Simi Hills area of Ventura County, California. Most of the
radioactive fission products were trapped, but gasses were vented which
resulted in the release of the third greatest amount of radioactive
iodine-131 in nuclear history. The incident was largely covered up until a
class-action suit was filed by local residents, who successfully sued for
$30 million over cancer and thyroid abnormalities contracted due to their
proximity to the facility.
2 September 1944
Peter Bragg and Douglas Paul Meigs, two Manhattan Project chemists, were
killed when their attempt to unclog a tube in a uranium enrichment device
led to an explosion of radioactive uranium hexafluoride gas exploded at the
Naval Research Laboratory in Philadelphia, PA. The explosion ruptured nearby
steam pipes, leading to a gas and steam combination that bathed the men in a
scalding, radioactive, acidic cloud of gas which killed them a short while
later.
21 August 1945
Louis Slotin , a physicist, was killed during the final stages of the
Manhattan Project undertaken at Los Alamos, New Mexico to develop the first
atomic bomb) from a radiation burst released when a critical assembly of
fissile material was accidentally brought together by hand. This incident
pre-dated remote-control assembly of such components, but the hazards of
manual assembly were known at the time (the accident occurred during a
procedure known as "tickling the dragon's tail"). A similar incident
occurred nine months later (dramatized in the Hollywood movie Fat Man and
Little Boy); this time, eight people were exposed, one of whom died days
later. Hand-maniuplations of critical assemblies was abandoned only after
another accident on 30 December 1958.
2 July 1956
Nine persons were injured when two explosions destroyed a portion of
Sylvania Electric Products' Metallurgy Atomic Research Center in Bayside,
Queens, New York.
1957
A radiation release at the the Keleket company resulted in a five-month
decontamination at a cost of $250,000. A capsule of radium salt (used for
calibrating the radiation-measuring devices produced there) burst,
contaminating the building for a full five months.
30 December 1958
A nuclear criticality accident occured from a solution in a plutonium
recovery operation at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. The
operator died later of acute radiation sickness. The March, 1961 Journal of
Occupational Medicine printed a special supplement devoted to the medical
analysis of this accident.
1959
A partial sodium reactor meltdown occurred at the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory in Simi Valley Hills, California.
5 October 1966
A sodium cooling system malfunction caused a partial core meltdown at
Detroit Edison's Enrico Fermi I demonstration breeder reactor near Detroit,
Michigan. Radioactive gases leaked into the containment structures, but
radiation was reportedly contained.
1974
Whistleblowers at the Isomedix company in New Jersey reported that
radioactive water was flushed down toilets and had contaminated pipes
leading to sewers. The same year a worker received a dose of radiation
considered lethal, but was saved by prompt hospital treatment.
1982
International Nutronics in Dover, New Jersey, which used radiation baths to
purify gems, chemicals, food, and medical supplies, experienced an accident
that completely contaminated the plant, forcing its closure. A pump
malfunctioned, siphoning water from the baths onto the floor; the water
eventually was drained into the sewer system of the heavily populated town
of Dover. The NRC wasn't informed of the accident until ten months later --
and then by a whistleblower, not the company. In 1986, the company and one
of its top executives were convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy and
fraud. Radiation has been detected in the vicinity of the plant, but the NRC
claims the levels "aren't hazardous."
1986
The NRC revoked the license of a Radiation Technology, Inc. (RTI) plant in
New Jersey for repeated worker safety violations. RTI was cited 32 times for
various violations, including throwing radioactive garbage out with the
regular trash. The most serious violation was bypassing a safety device to
prevent people from entering the irradiation chamber during operation,
resulting in a worker receiving a near-lethal dose of radiation.
ca. December 1991
One of four cold fusion cells in a Menlo Park, CA, laboratory exploded while
being moved; electrochemist Andrew Riley was killed and three others were
injured. The other three cells were buried on site, leading to rumors that a
nuclear reaction had taken place. A report concluded that it was a chemical
explosion; a mixture of oxygen and deuterium produced by electrolysis
ignited when a catalyst was exposed. The Electric Power Research Institute,
which spent $2 million on the SRI cold fusion research, suspended support
for the work pending the outcome of an investigation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Plants
The nuclear power plant is a particularly nefarious use of nuclear energy.
Unlike conventional power plants, nuclear plants have a relatively short
life-span -- 30 years -- before critical reactor components become
irreparably radioactive. At that point the plant must be decommissioned
(`mothballed'), or its entire reactor core replaced at great expense. To
date, there is no solution regarding where to store spent power plant
reactor cores. Compounding the storage problem is an accumulation of spent
radioactive fuel rods, which have a life-span of only three years.
3 January 1961
A reactor explosion (attributed by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission source to
sabotage) at the National Reactor Testing Station in Arco, Idaho, killed one
navy technician and two army technicians, and released radioactivity
"largely confined" (words of John A. McCone, Director of the Atomic Energy
Commission) to the reactor building. The three men were killed as they moved
fuel rods in a "routine" preparation for the reactor start-up. One
technician was blown to the ceiling of the containment dome and impaled on a
control rod. His body remained there until it was taken down six days later.
The men were so heavily exposed to radiation that their hands had to be
buried separately with other radioactive waste, and their bodies were
interred in lead coffins.
24 July 1964
Robert Peabody, 37, died at the United Nuclear Corp. fuel facility in
Charlestown, Rhode Island, when liquid uranium he was pouring went critical,
starting a reaction that exposed him to a lethal dose of radiation.
19 November 1971
The water storage space at the Northern States Power Company's reactor in
Monticello, Minnesota filled to capacity and spilled over, dumping about
50,000 gallons of radioactive waste water into the Mississippi River. Some
was taken into the St. Paul water system.
March 1972
Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska submitted to the Congressional Record facts
surrounding a routine check in a nuclear power plant which indicated
abnormal radioactivity in the building's water system. Radioactivity was
confirmed in the plant drinking fountain. Apparently there was an
inappropriate cross-connection between a 3,000 gallon radioactive tank and
the water system.
27 July 1972
Two workers at the Surry Unit 2 facility in Virginia were fatally scalded
after a routine valve adjustment led to a steam release in a gap in a vent
line. [See also 9 December 1986]
28 May 1974
The Atomic Energy Commission reported that 861 "abnormal events" had
occurred in 1973 in the nation's 42 operative nuclear power plants. Twelve
involved the release of radioactivity "above permissible levels."
22 March 1975
A technician checking for air leaks with a lighted candle caused $100
million in damage when insulation caught fire at the Browns Ferry reactor in
Decatur, Alabama. The fire burned out electrical controls, lowering the
cooling water to dangerous levels, before the plant could be shut down.
28 March 1979
A major accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Middletown,
Pennsylvania. At 4:00 a.m. a series of human and mechanical failures nearly
triggered a nuclear disaster. By 8:00 a.m., after cooling water was lost and
temperatures soared above 5,000 degrees, the top portion of the reactor's
150-ton core collapsed and melted. Contaminated coolant water escaped into a
nearby building, releasing radioactive gasses, leading as many as 200,000
people to flee the region. Despite claims by the nuclear industry that "no
one died at Three Mile Island," a study by Dr. Ernest J. Sternglass,
professor of radiation physics at the University of Pittsburgh, showed that
the accident led to a minimum of 430 infant deaths.
1981
The Critical Mass Energy Project of Public Citizen, Inc. reported that there
were 4,060 mishaps and 140 serious events at nuclear power plants in 1981,
up from 3,804 mishaps and 104 serious events the previous year.
11 February 1981
An Auxiliary Unit Operator, working his first day on the new job without
proper training, inadvertently opened a valve which led to the contamination
of eight men by 110,000 gallons of radioactive coolant sprayed into the
containment building of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah I plant in
Tennessee.
July 1981
A flood of low-level radioactive wastewater in the sub-basement at Nine Mile
Point's Unit 1 (in New York state) caused approximately 150 55-gallon drums
of high-level waste to overturn, some of which released their highly
radioactive contents. Some 50,000 gallons of low-level radioactive water
were subsequently dumped into Lake Ontario to make room for the cleanup. The
discharge was reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but the
sub-basement contamination was not. A report leaked to the press 8 years
later resulted in a study which found that high levels of radiation
persisted in the still flooded facility.
1982
The Critical Mass Energy Project of Public Citizen, Inc. reported that
84,322 power plant workers were exposed to radiation in 1982, up from 82,183
the previous year.
25 January 1982
A steam generator pipe broke at the Rochester Gas & Electric Company's Ginna
plant near Rochester, New York. Fifteen thousand gallons of radioactive
coolant spilled onto the plant floor, and small amounts of radioactive steam
escaped into the air.
15-16 January 1983
Nearly 208,000 gallons of water with low-level radioactive contamination was
accidentally dumped into the Tennesee River at the Browns Ferry power plant.
25 February 1983
A catastrophe at the Salem 1 reactor in New Jersey was averted by just 90
seconds when the plant was shut down manually, following the failure of
automatic shutdown systems to act properly. The same automatic systems had
failed to respond in an incident three days before, and other problems
plagued this plant as well, such as a 3,000 gallon leak of radioactive water
in June 1981 at the Salem 2 reactor, a 23,000 gallon leak of "mildly"
radioactive water (which splashed onto 16 workers) in February 1982, and
radioactive gas leaks in March 1981 and September 1982 from Salem 1.
9 December 1986
A feedwater pipe ruptured at the Surry Unit 2 facility in Virginia, causing
8 workers to be scalded by a release of hot water and steam. Four of the
workers later died from their injuries. In addition, water from the
sprinkler systems caused a malfunction of the security system, preventing
personnel from entering the facility. This was the second time that an
incident at the Surry 2 unit resulted in fatal injuries due to scalding [see
also 27 July 1972].
1988
It was reported that there were 2,810 accidents in U.S. commercial nuclear
power plants in 1987, down slightly from the 2,836 accidents reported in
1986, according to a report issued by the Critical Mass Energy Project of
Public Citizen, Inc.
28 May 1993
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a warning to the operators of 34
nuclear reactors around the country that the instruments used to measure
levels of water in the reactor could give false readings during routine
shutdowns and fail to detect important leaks. The problem was first bought
to light by an engineer at Northeast Utilities in Connecticut who had been
harassed for raising safety questions. The flawed instruments at
boiling-water reactors designed by General Electric utilize pipes which were
prone to being blocked by gas bubbles; a failure to detect falling water
levels could have resulted, potentially leading to a meltdown.
15 February 2000
New York's Indian Point II power plant vented a small amount of radioactive
steam when a an aging steam generator ruptured. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission initially reported that no radioactive material was released, but
later changed their report to say that there was a leak, but not of a
sufficient amount to threaten public safety.
6 March 2002
Workers discovered a foot-long cavity eaten into the reactor vessel head at
the Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio. Borated water had corroded the metal
to a 3/16 inch stainless steel liner which held back over 80,000 gallons of
highly pressurized radioactive water. In April 2005 the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission proposed fining plant owner First Energy 5.4 million dollars for
their failure to uncover the problem sooner (similar problems plaguing other
plants were already known within the industry), and also proposed banning
System Engineer Andrew Siemaszko from working in the industry for five years
due to his falsifying reactor vessel logs. As of this writing the fine and
suspension were under appeal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saluti e buon anno


 ha scritto:
Parte 2
Allegria pensate ai casini che avranno fatto quelle capre di Pakistani e
Iraniani.
Bombs and Bombers
13 February 1950
A B-36 en route from Alaska to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas,
developed serious mechanical difficulties, complicated by severe icing
conditions, leading to the world's first nuclear accident. The crew headed
out over the Pacific Ocean and dropped the nuclear weapons from 8,000 feet
off the coast of British Columbia. The weapons' high-explosive material
detonated on impact, but the crew parachuted to safety.
11 April 1950
A B-29 carrying a nuclear weapon crashed into a mountain near Manzano Base
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing all 13 crewmembers aboard.
10 November 1950
A B-50 en route to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, was
forced to jettison a nuclear weapon over the St. Lawrence River near St.
Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, Canada.
10 March 1956
A B-47 with two nuclear weapons aboard disappeared over the Mediterranean
Sea after flying out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. An
exhaustive search failed to locate the aircraft, its weapons, nor its crew.
27 July 1956
A U.S. B-47 practicing a touch-and-go landing at Lakenheath Royal Air Force
Station near Cambridge, England went out of control and smashed into a
storage igloo housing three Mark 6 nuclear bombs, each of which had about
8,000 pounds of TNT in its trigger mechanism. No crewmen were killed, and
fire fighters were able to extinguish the blazing jet fuel before it ignited
the TNT.
22 May 1957
A 10 megaton hydrogen bomb was accidentally dropped from a bomber in an
uninhabited area near Albuquerque, New Mexico owned by the University of New
Mexico. The conventional explosives detonated, creating a 12 foot deep
crater 25 feet across in which some radiation was detected.
28 July 1957
A C-124 Globemaster transporting three nuclear weapons and a nuclear capsule
from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to Europe experienced loss of power in
two engines. The crew jettisoned two of the weapons somewhere east of
Rehobeth, Del., and Cape May/Wildwood, New Jersey. A search for the weapons
was unsuccessful and it is a fair assumption that they still lie at the
bottom of the ocean.
11 October 1957
A B-47 carrying a single nuclear weapon crashed shortly after takeoff. The
weapon was partially destroyed in the ensuing fire, but the nuclear core was
recovered intact.
31 January 1958
Unbeknownst to Moroccan officials, a B-47 loaded with a fully-armed nuclear
weapon collapsed and caught fire on the runway at a U.S. Strategic Air
Command base 90 miles northeast of Rabat. The Air Force considered
evacuating the base, but instead allowed the bomber to continue to burn for
seven hours. During cleanup operations a large number of vehicles and
aircraft were contaminated with radiation.
5 February 1958
A B-47 carrying a Mark 15, Mod 0, nuclear bomb on a simulated combat mission
from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida collided with an F-86. After three
unsuccessful attempts to land at Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia, the B-47
crew jettisoned the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean off Savannah. The
Air Force conducted a nine-week search of a 3-square-mile area in Wassaw
Sound where the bomb was dropped, but declared on April 16 that the bomb was
irretrievably lost. The bomb was rediscovered in September 2004.
11 March 1958
A B-47 on its way from Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia to an overseas base
accidentally dropped an unarmed nuclear weapon into the garden of Walter
Gregg and his family in Mars Bluff, South Carolina. The conventional
explosives detonated, destroying Gregg's house and injuring six family
members. The blast resulted in the formation of a crater 50-70 feet wide and
25-30 feet deep. Five other houses and a church were also damaged; five
months later the Air Force paid the Greggs $54,000 in compensation.
4 November 1958
A B-47 carrying a nuclear weapon caught fire and crashed during takeoff from
Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, killing one crew member.
26 November 1958
A B-47 caught fire on the ground at Chennault Air Force Base in Lake
Charles, Louisiana, destroying a nuclear weapon onboard, resulting in minor
radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity.
15 October 1959
A B-52 with two nuclear bombs collided in mid-air with a KC-135 jet tanker
and crashed near Hardinsberg, Kentucky. Both bombs were recovered intact,
but eight crewmembers lost their lives.
7 June 1960
A BOMARC-A nuclear missile burst into flames after its fuel tank was
ruptured by the explosion of a high pressure helium tank at McGuire Air
Force Base in New Egypt, New Jersey. The missile melted, causing plutonium
contamination at the facility and in the ground water below.
21 January 1961
A B-52 bomber carrying one or more nuclear weapons disintegrated in midair
following an engine fier and explosion approximately 10 miles north of
Monticello, Utah, killing all five crewmembers.
24 January 1961
A B-52 bomber suffered structural failure and disintegrated in mid-air 12
miles north of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC, releasing
two hydrogen bombs. Five crewmen parachuted to safety, while three others
died when the aircraft exploded in mid-air. The bombs jettisoned as the
plane descended, one parachuting to earth intact, the other plunging deep
into waterlogged farmland. To this day, parts of the nuclear bomb remain
embedded deep in the muck. The area is off-limits, and is tested regularly
for radiation releases. More information can be found at the Broken Arrow:
Goldsboro, NC site at 
www.ibiblio.org/bomb/
.
14 March 1961
A B-52 with nuclear bombs crashed in California while on a training mission.
13 January 1964
A B-52 with two nuclear weapons crashed near Cumberland, Maryland.
8 December 1964
A B-58 slid off a runway at Bunker Hill (now Grissom) Air Force Base in
Peru, Indiana. The resulting fire consumed portions of five onboard nuclear
weapons, leading to radioactive contamination of the surrounding area.
5 December 1965
An A-4E aircraft accidentally fell overboard off the USS Toconderoga, with
the loss of pilot LTJG D.M. Webster and a nuclear weapon. The incident,
which occurred in the Pacific Ocean approximately 200 miles east of Okinawa,
was not reported by the Department of Defense until 1981.
17 January 1966
A B-52 collided with an Air Force KC-135 jet tanker while refueling over the
coast of Spain, killing eight of the eleven crew members and igniting the
KC-135's 40,000 gallons of jet fuel. Two hydrogen bombs ruptured, scattering
radioactive particles over the fields of Palomares; a third landed intact
near the village of Palomares; the fourth was lost at sea 12 miles off the
coast of Palomares and required a search by thousands of men working for
three months to recover it. Approximately 1,500 tons of radioactive soil and
tomato plants were removed to the U.S. for burial at a nuclear waste dump in
Aiken, S.C. The U.S. eventually settled claims by 522 Palomares residents at
a cost of $600,000, and gave the town the gift of a $200,000 desalinizing
plant.
22 January 1968
A B-52 crashed 7 miles south of Thule Air Force Base in Greenland,
scattering the radioactive fragments of three hydrogen bombs over the
terrain and dropping one bomb into the sea after a fire broke out in the
navigator's compartment. Contaminated ice and airplane debris were sent back
to the U.S., with the bomb fragments going back to the manufacturer in
Amarillo, Texas. The incident outraged the people of Denmark (which owned
Greenland at the time, and which prohibits nuclear weapons over its
territory) and led to massive anti-U.S. demonstrations. One of the warheads
was reportedly recovered by Navy Seals and Seabees in 1979, but a recent
(August 2000) report suggests that in fact it may still be lying at the
bottom of Baffin Bay.
2 November 1981
A fully-armed Poseidon missile was accidentally dropped 17 feet from a crane
in Scotland during a transfer operation between a U.S. submarine and its
mother ship.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarines and Ships
Some of the following incidents involve the discharge of radioactive coolant
water by ships and submarines. While water from the primary coolant system
stays radioactive for only a few seconds, it picks up bits of cobalt,
chromium and other elements (from rusting pipes and the reactor) which
remain radioactive for years. In realization of this fact, the U.S. Navy has
curtailed its previously frequent practice of dumping coolant at sea.
1954
An experimental sodium-cooled reactor utilized aboard the USS Seawolf, the
U.S.'s second nuclear submarine, was scuttled in 9,000 feet of water off the
Delawre/Maryland coast. The reactor was plagued by persistent leaks in its
steam system (caused by the corrosive nature of the sodium) and was later
replaced with a more conventional model. The reactor is estimated to have
contained 33,000 curies of radioactivity and is likely the largest single
radioactive object ever dumped deliberately into the ocean. Subsequent
attempts to locate the reactor proved to be futile.
October 1959
One man was killed and another three were seriously burned in the explosion
and fire of a prototype reactor for the USS Triton at the Navy's training
center in West Milton, New York. The Navy stated, "The explosion...was
completely unrelated to the reactor or any of its principal auxiliary
systems," but sources familiar with the operation claim that the
high-pressure air flask which exploded was utilized to operate a critical
back-up system in the event of a reactor emergency.
1961
The USS Theodore Roosvelt was contaminated when radioactive waste from its
demineralization system, blew back onton the ship after an attempt to
dispose of the material at sea. This happened on other occasions as well
with other ships (for example, the USS Guardfish in 1975).
10 April 1963
The nuclear submarine Thresher imploded during a test dive east of Boston,
killing all 129 men aboard.
5 December 1965
This write-up is drawn from the US Nuclear Weapons Accidents page at
www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/accidents.htm
.
An A-4E Skyhawk strike aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon rolled off an
elevator on the U.S. aircraft carrier Ticonderoga and fell into the sea.
Because the bomb was lost at a depth of approximately 16,000 feet, Pentagon
officials feared that intense water pressure could have caused the B-43
hydrogen bomb to explode. It is still unknown whether an explosion did
occur. The pilot, aircraft, and weapon were lost.
The Pentagon claimed that the bomb was lost "500 miles away from land."
However, it was later revealed that the aircraft and nuclear weapon sank
only miles from the Japanese island chain of Ryukyu. Several factors
contributed to the Pentagon's secretiveness. The USS Ticonderoga was
returning from a mission off North Vietnam; confirming that the carrier had
nuclear weapons aboard would document their introduction into the Vietnam
War. Furthermore, Japan's anti-nuclear law prohibited the introduction of
atomic weapons into its territory, and U.S. military bases in Japan are not
exempt from this law. Thus, confirming that the USS Ticonderoga carried
nuclear weapons would signify U.S. violation of its military agreements with
Japan. The carrier was headed to Yokosuka, Japan, and disclosure of the
accident in the mid-1980s caused a strain in U.S.-Japanese relations.
1968
Radioactive coolant water may have been released by the USS Swordfish, which
was moored at the time in Sasebo Harbor in Japan. According to one source,
the incident was alleged by activists but a nearby Japanese government
vessel failed to detect any such radiation leak. The purported incident was
protested bitterly by the Japanese, with Premier Eisaku Sate warning that
U.S. nuclear ships would no longer be allowed to call at Japanese ports
unless their safety could be guaranteed.
21 May 1968
The U.S.S. Scorpion, a nuclear-powered attack submarine carrying two Mark 45
ASTOR torpedoes with nuclear warheads, sank mysteriously on this day. It was
eventually photographed lying on the bottom of the ocean, where all
ninety-nine of its crew were lost. Details of the accident remained
classified until November 1993, when Navy reports revealed that the cause of
the sinking was an accidental detonation of the conventional explosives in
one of Scorpion's warheads.
14 January 1969
A series of explosions aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier Enterprise left
17 dead and 85 injured.
16 May 1969
The U.S.S. Guitarro, a $50 million nuclear submarine undergoing final
fitting in San Francisco Bay, sank to the bottom as water poured into a
forward compartment. A House Armed Services subcommittee later found the
Navy guilty of "inexcusable carelessness" in connection with the event.
12 December 1971
Five hundred gallons of radioactive coolant water spilled into the Thames
River near New London, Connecticut as it was being transferred from the
submarine Dace to the sub tender Fulton.
October-November 1975
The USS Proteus, a disabled submarine tender, discharged significant amounts
of radioactive coolant water into Guam's Apra Harbor. A geiger counter check
of the harbor water near two public beaches measured 100 millirems/hour,
fifty times the allowable dose.
22 May 1978
Up to 500 gallons of radioactive water was released when a valve was
mistakenly opened aboard the USS Puffer near Puget Sound in Washington.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nuclear Bomb Tests and Testing Facilities
26 April 1953
Radioactive rain, the result of above-ground nuclear tests, fell on Troy,
New York.
5 September 1961
President Kennedy ordered the resumption of nuclear testing, "underground,
with no fallout."
10 December 1961
Clouds of radioactive steam escaped from an underground nuclear test,
closing several New Mexico highways.
4 June 1962 The Bluegill nuclear test, designed to detonate a nuclear device
in the atmosphere, was aborted 10 minutes after launch when the missile
tracking system failed prior to nuclear detonation. The nuclear device was
lost at sea.
20 June 1962 A failure of the Starfish nuclear test, designed to detonate a
nuclear device in space, caused radioactive debris to be scattered across
Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean.
9 December 1968
Clouds of radioactive steam from a nuclear test in Nevada broke through the
ground, releasing fallout and violating the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
signed 5 years earlier.
18 December 1970
An underground nuclear test in Nevada resulted in a cloud of radioactive
steam to be thrust 8,000 feet in the air over Wyoming.
15 July 1999
A spokesperson for President Clinton announced that thousands of contract
workers at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, exposed to toxic and radioactive
substances during the previous 50 years, could seek federal compensation for
related illnesses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processing, Storage, Shipping and Disposal
From 1946 to 1970 approximately 90,000 cannisters of radioactive waste were
jettisoned in 50 ocean dumps up and down the East and West coasts of the
U.S., including prime fishing areas, as part of the early nuclear waste
disposal program from the military's atomic weapons program. The waste also
included contaminated tools, chemicals, and laboratory glassware from
weapons laboratories, and commercial/medical facilities
December 1962 A summary report was presented at an Atomic Energy Commission
symposium in Germantown, Maryland, listing 47 accidents involving shipment
of nuclear materials to that date, 17 of which were considered "serious."
11 May 1969
A plutonium fire broke out in Building 776 at the Atomic Energy Commission's
Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. Plutonium was released into the
atmosphere and tracked out of the building on the boots of firefighters, and
several buildings at the factory were so badly contaminated that they had to
be dismantled.
1971
After experimenting with disposal of radioactive waste in salt, the Atomic
Energy Commission announced that "Project Salt Vault" would solve the waste
problem. But when 180,000 gallons of contaminated water was pumped into a
borehole; it promptly and unexpectedly disappeared. The project was
abandoned two years later.
1972
The West Valley, NY fuel reprocessing plant was closed after 6 years in
operation, leaving 600,000 gallons of high-level wastes buried in leaking
tanks. The site caused measurable contamination of Lakes Ontario and Erie.
December 1972
A major fire and two explosions occurred at a Pauling, New York plutonium
fabrication plant. An undetermined amount of radioactive plutonium was
scattered inside and outside the plant, resulting in its permanent shutdown.
1979
The Critical Mass Energy Project (part of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen,
Inc.) tabulated 122 accidents involving the transport of nuclear material in
1979, including 17 involving radioactive contamination.
16 July 1979
A dam holding radioactive uranium mill tailings broke, sending an estimated
100 million gallons of radioactive liquids and 1,100 tons of solid wastes
downstream at Church Rock, New Mexico.
August 1979
Highly enriched uranium was released from a top-secret nuclear fuel plant
near Erwin, Tennessee. About 1,000 people were contaminated with up to 5
times as much radiation as would normally be received in a year. Between
1968 and 1983 the plant "lost" 234 pounds of highly enriched uranium,
forcing the plant to be closed six times during that period.
January 1980
A 5.5 Richter earthquake at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where
large amounts of nuclear material are kept, caused a tritium leak.
19 September 1980
An Air Force repairman doing routine maintenance in a Titan II ICBM silo in
Damascus, Arkansas dropped a wrench socket, which rolled off a work platform
and fell to the bottom of the silo. The socket struck the missile, causing a
leak from a pressurized fuel tank. The missile complex and surrounding areas
were evacuated. Eight and a half hours later, the fuel vapors ignited,
causing an explosion which killed an Air Force specialist and injured 21
others. The explosion also blew off the 740-ton reinforced
concrete-and-steel silo door and catapulted the warhead 600 feet into the
air. The silo has since been filled in with gravel, and operations have been
transferred to a similar installation at Rock, Kansas.
21 September 1980
Two canisters containing radioactive materials fell off a truck on New
Jersey's Route 17. The driver, en route from Pennsylvania to Toronto, did
not notice the missing cargo until he reached Albany, New York.
1983
The Department of Energy confirmed that 1,200 tons of mercury had been
released over the years from the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Components Plant at
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the U.S.'s earliest nuclear weapons production plant.
In 1987, the DOE also reported that PCBs, heavy metals, and radioactive
substances were all present in the groundwater beneath Y-12. Y-12 and the
nearby K-25 and X-10 plants were found to have contaminated the atmosphere,
soil and streams in the area.
December 1984
The Fernald Uranium Plant, a 1,050-acre uranium fuel production complex 20
miles northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, was temporarily shut down after the
Department of Energy disclosed that excessive amounts of radioactive
materials had been released through ventilating systems. Subsequent reports
revealed that 230 tons of radioactive material had leaked into the Greater
Miami River valley during the previous thirty years, 39 tons of uranium dust
had been released into the atmosphere, 83 tons had been discharged into
surface water, and 5,500 tons of radioactive and other hazardous substances
had been released into pits and swamps where they seeped into the
groundwater. In addition, 337 tons of uranium hexafluoride was found to be
missing, its whereabouts completely unknown. In 1988 nearby residents sued
and were granted a $73 million settlement by the government. The plant was
not permanently shut down until 1989.
1986
A truck carrying low-level radioactive material swerved to avoid a farm
vehicle, went off a bridge on Route 84 in Idaho, and dumped part of its
cargo in the Snake River. Officials reported the release of radioactivity.
6 January 1986
A container of highly toxic gas exploded at The Sequoyah Fuels Corp. uranium
processing factory in Gore, Oklahoma, causing one worker to die (when his
lungs were destroyed) and 130 others to seek medical treatment. In response,
the Government kept the plant closed for more than a year and fined owners
Kerr-McGee $310,000, citing poorly trained workers, poorly maintained
equipment and a disregard for safety and the environment. [See also 24
November 1992.]
1986
After almost 40 years of cover-ups, the U.S. Government released 19,000
pages of previously classified documents which revealed that the Hanford
Engineer Works was responsible for the release of significant amounts of
radioactive materials into the atmosphere and the adjacent Columbia River.
Between 1944 and 1966, the eight reactors, a source of plutonium production
for atomic weapons, discharged billions of gallons of liquids and billions
of cubic meters of gases containing plutonium and other radioactive
contaminants into the Columbia River, and the soil and air of the Columbia
Basin. Although detrimental effects were noticed as early as 1948, all
reports critical of the facilities remained classified. By the summer of
1987, the cost of cleaning up Hanford was estimated to be $48.5 billion. The
Technical Steering Panel of the government-sponsored Hanford Environmental
Dose Reconstruction Project released the following statistics in July 1990:
Of the 270,000 people living in the affected area, most received low doses
of radiation from Iodine, but about 13,500 received a total dose some 1,300
times the annual amount of airborne radiation considered safe for civilians
by the Department of Energy. Approximately 1,200 children received doses far
in excess of this number, and many more received additional doses from
contaminants other than Iodine. [See also May 1997 and July 2000.]
1987
The Idaho Falls Post Register reported that plutonium had been found in
sediments hundreds of feet below the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory,
an experimental reactor testing station and nuclear waste storage site.
1988
The National Research Council panel released a report listing 30
"significant unreported incidents" at the Savannah River production plants
over the previous 30 years. As at Hanford (see 1986), ground water
contamination resulted from pushing production of radioactive materials past
safe limits at this weapons complex. In January 1989, scientists discovered
a fault running under the entire site through which contaminants reached the
underground aquifer, a major source of drinking water for the southeast.
Turtles in nearby ponds were found to contain radioactive strontium of up to
1,000 times the normal background level.
6 June 1988
Radiation Sterilizers, Incorporated reported that a leak of Cesium-137 had
occurred at their Decatur, Georgia facility. Seventy thousand medical supply
containers and milk cartons were recalled as they had been exposed to
radiation. Ten employees were also exposed, three of whom "had enough on
them that they contaminated other surfaces" including materials in their
homes and cars, according to Jim Setser at the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources.
October 1988
The Rocky Flats, Colorado plutonium bomb manufacturing site was partially
closed after two employees and a Department of Energy inspector inhaled
radioactive particles. Subsequent investigations revealed safety violations
(including uncalibrated monitors and insufficient fire-response equipment)
and leaching of radioactive contaminants into the local groundwater.
24 November 1992
The Sequoyah Fuels Corp. uranium processing factory in Gore, Oklahoma closed
after repeated citations by the Government for violations of nuclear safety
and environmental rules. It's record during 22 years of operation included
an accident in 1986 that killed one worker and injured dozens of others and
the contamination of the Arkansas River and groundwater. The Sequoyah Fuels
plant, one of two privately-owned American factories that fabricated fuel
rods and armor-piercing bullet shells, had been shut down a week before by
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when an accident resulted in the release
of toxic gas. Thirty-four people sought medical attention as a result of the
accident. The plant had also been shut down the year before when unusually
high concentrations of uranium were detected in water in a nearby
construction pit. [Also see 6 January 1986 for details of an additional
incident.] A Government investigation revealed that the company had known
for years that uranium was leaking into the ground at levels 35,000 times
higher than Federal law allows; Carol Couch, the plant's environmental
manager, was cited by the Government for obstructing the investigation and
knowingly giving Federal agents false information.
31 March 1994
Fire at a nuclear research facility on Long Island, New York resulted in the
nuclear contamination of three fire fighters, three reactor operators, and
one technician. Measurable amounts of radioactive substances were released
into the immediate environment.
May 1997
A 40 gallon tank of toxic chemicals, stored illegally at the U.S.
Government's Hanford Engineer works exploded, causing the release of
20,000-30,000 gallons of plutonium-contaminated water. A cover-up ensued,
involving the contractors doing clean-up and the Department of Energy, who
denied the release of radioactive materials. They also told eight plant
workers that tests indicated that they hadn't been exposed to plutonium even
though no such tests actually were conducted (later testing revealed that in
fact they had not been exposed). Fluor Daniel Hanford Inc., operator of the
Hanford Site, was cited for violations of the Department of Energy's nuclear
safety rules and fined $140,625. Violations associated with the explosion
included the contractor's failure to assure that breathing devices operated
effectively, failure to make timely notifications of the emergency, and
failure to conduct proper radiological surveys of workers. Other violations
cited by the DOE included a number of events between November 1996 and June
1997 involving Fluor Daniel Hanford's failure to assure adherence to PFP
"criticality" safety procedures. ("Criticality" features are defined as
those features used "to assure safe handling of fissile materials and
prevention of...an unplanned and uncontrolled chain reaction that can
release large amounts of radiation.") [See also 1986 and July 2000.]
8 August 1999
The Washington Post reported that thousands of workers were unwittingly
exposed to plutonium and other highly radioactive metals over a 23-year
period (beginning in the mid-1950's) at the Department of Energy's Paducah
Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. Workers, told they were handling
Uranium (rather than the far more toxic plutonium), inhaled radioactive dust
while processing the materials as part of a government experiment to recycle
used nuclear reactor fuel.
June 2000
U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) led a field senate hearing regarding workers
exposed to hazardous materials while working in the nation's atomic plants.
At the hearing, which revealed information about potential on and off-site
contamination at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio,
DeWine noted, "We know that as a result of Cold War efforts, the government,
yes, our federal government, allowed thousands of workers at its facilities
across the country to be exposed to poisonous materials, such as beryllium
dust, plutonium, and silicon, without adequate protection." Testimony also
indicated that the Piketon plant altered workers' radiation dose readings
and worked closely with medical professionals to fight worker's compensation
claims.
July 2000
Wildfires in the vicinity of the Hanford facility hit the highly radioactive
"B/C" waste disposal trenches, raising airborne plutonium radiation levels
in the nearby cities of Pasco and Richland to 1,000 above normal. Wildfires
also threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the
DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In the latter
case, the fires closely approached large amounts of stored radioactive waste
and forced the evacuation of 1,800 workers. [See also 1986 and May 1997.]
Saluti


 Research Facilities
Vedo solo della risibile fuffa.
Il più grave incidente della storia a una centrale USA è stata una scureggetta 
che ha emesso nell'atmosfera la radioattività di un paio di schermografie.
I russi ci hanno quasi ammazzati tutti un paio di volte, con i loro rugginosi 
cassoni nei quali tentano di fare reazioni atomiche senza norme di sicurezza.
E sia in Siberia che a Chernobyl è ancora tutto là che frigge, emette radiazioni 
e minaccia di distruggere un paio di oceani. Bisognerebbe togliergli la patente.
Gli iraniani non sanno cosa si stanno mettendo in casa, anche se dovessero 
scampare allo strike.
Tbb


 botto fin su Sirio.
Le testate nucleari sugli SLBM non possono detonare se non dopo che il 
meccanismo si sblocca (una volta che le testate sono state lanciate 
raggiungendo una certa velocità e accellerazione). Quindi non eploderanno 
sul sottomarino, spiacente. Se invece fanno cilecca, di che ti lamenti? Il 
problema non si porrebbe.
-- 
"Il Basileus che siede a Costantinopoli vince sempre".
Giovanni Cecaumeno. 

 Groenlandia abbiano dei buoni tetti di calcestruzzo rafforzato al piombo.
Possiamo stare tranquilli sia per quelle americane, che per quelle russe: 
gli americani utilizzano protocolli rigidissimi (gli ordigni devono 
funzionare "sempre\mai": devono essere *sempre* utilizzabili, e non 
funzionare *mai* per errore o disfunzione), e i russi hanno i loro 
equivalenti. Entrambi sono elaborati e molto sicuri (perfezionati peraltro 
per decenni). La preoccupazione è semmai per le testate di paesi come il 
Pakistan (e in futuro l'Iran), che temo non abbiano protocolli di utilizzo 
severi come quelli russi e americani.
Il Tu-95MS non è mai stato decommissionato: è sempre rimasto in servizio, e 
di conseguenza i sistemi di sicurezza a bordo sono rimasti sempre 
aggiornati.


 sul sottomarino, spiacente. 
A meno che non siano russe. Considerata la cura per la sicurezza e la vita degli 
operatori che va per la maggiore da quelle parti, non credo sia sensatamente 
possibile garantire nulla riguardo al loro arsenale nucleare.
Tb


 equivalenti.
Sulla carta avrai sicuramente ragione, forse.
In pratica, qualunque incidente nucleare russo, ma anche non nucleare, sia mai 
venuto alla luce (cioè presumibilmente una percentuale infinitesimale di quelli 
realmente accaduti), fa rizzare i capelli per il più grossolano disprezzo di 
ogni sensato processo di sicurezza, sia in fase di costruzione che ancor più in 
fase di utilizzo.
Leggere la catena di incidenti di Mayak, ad esempio, che continuano fino ai 
giorni nostri, è semplicemente orripilante e spaventoso.



Speriamo sia vero.
Ma per la legge di Murphy se puo' succedere vedrai che succede.
Anche quelli a Three Miles Iland non ci credevano fosse successo.
Idem a Chernobil.
Stai parlando con uno specialista in sistemi.
Nessuno diffida dei sistemi piu' di chi li conosce.
La sicurezza si poggia su interblocchi, procedure e controlli.
Molte volte siamo stati salvati solo dalla intrinseca stabilita' del
fenomeno fisico.
Interblocchi bipassati, procedure infrante e controlli spenti, sono tipiche
situazioni che si riscontrano.
Gli SSBN sono delle belle macchinette che rappresentano il massimo del
rischio tecnologico e umano.
Mi pare che almeno tre se ne stanno sul fondo del mare con missili e testate
nucleari.
Bello vero?
Un reattore sperimentale negli USA e' saltato perche' l'unica barra
moderatrice e' stata sollevata piu' del necessario.
Piu' del necessario significa 300 mm per frazioni di secondo.
In circa 4/8 millisecondi il reattore ha sviluppato piena energia, ha
prodotto vapore che ha sparato il coperchio con la barra e l'operatore che
faceva manutenzione a spiaciccarsi sul tetto.
A quel punto solo l'evaporazione dell'acqua ha fermato la reazione.
Sono dei piccoli mostri instabili i materiali nucleari.
Saluti


 sensatamente possibile garantire nulla riguardo al loro arsenale nucleare.
Te l'ho già detto: l'arsenale strategico è la crema delle FFAA russe. Mentre 
il resto della macchina bellica sovietica si disfaceva, le testate nucleari 
sono sempre state guardate con un occhio di riguardo. In ogni caso una 
testata nucleare non può esplodere per sbaglio: gli esplosivi utilizzati per 
comprimere la massa critica devono esplodere in maniera precisissima. Anche 
il lasciare bruciare una testata nucleare in un aereo in fiamme non crea 
nessun rischio di esplosione accidentale (al limite di contaminazione). Non 
mi preoccupa affatto la possibilità che una testata russa esploda per 
errore: mi preoccupa molto di più come sono stoccatee conservate quelle 
pachistane.
E poi tutto questo disprezzo verso le armi russeda parte tua mi stupisce: il 
Galil della IMI non è forse una copia dell'AK-47? ;-DDD


 Galil della IMI non è forse una copia dell'AK-47? ;-DDD
Infatti il Galil non è che sia questo granché.
in ogni caso un AK 47 non può contaminare mezzo mondo.


 nucleari.
Veramente ho presente solo quell'esemplare di Projekt 667 russo affondato 
nel 1986. Il K-219. Che io sappia è l'unico SSBN affondato. In ogni caso le 
testate nucleari presenti nel K-219 non sono esplose (sebbene sottoposte a 
potenti sollecitazioni).
Se ti riferisci a sottomarini nucleari in genere, allora la lista è più 
lunghetta. Ma anche in questo caso si parla di non più di 5 o 6 casi 
(comprendendo americani e russi). Nel caso dell'USS Scorpion è interessante 
notare che l'esplosione che lo ha affondato (apparentemente avvenuta nella 
sala siluri) non ha fatto detonare i due siluri Mark-45 Astor con testata 
nucleare presenti a bordo.
Se vedi i modelli di sottomarino nucleare più nuovi, noterai che sono ormai 
affidabilissimi. Il Kursk non è infatti affondato per problemi al reattore 
(che in un Projekt 949A ormai è piuttosto avanzato: niente a che vedere con 
i primi Projekt 659), ma per difetti presenti in un siluro convenzionale.



Certo che quando scoreggiano e' meglio stare alla larga.
December 1984
The Fernald Uranium Plant, a 1,050-acre uranium fuel production complex 20
miles northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, was temporarily shut down after the
Department of Energy disclosed that excessive amounts of radioactive
materials had been released through ventilating systems.
Subsequent reports
revealed that 230 tons of radioactive material had leaked into the Greater
Miami River valley during the previous thirty years,
39 tons of uranium dust
had been released into the atmosphere,
83 tons had been discharged into
surface water,
and 5,500 tons of radioactive and other hazardous substances
had been released into pits and swamps where they seeped into the
groundwater.
In addition, 337 tons of uranium hexafluoride was found to be
missing, its whereabouts completely unknown.
In 1988 nearby residents sued
and were granted a $73 million settlement by the government. The plant was
not permanently shut down until 1989.
Direi proprio atom earth mother.
Non voglio neanche pensare a cosa hanno fatto i Russi, come minimo si
moltiplica per 3.14.
Vorrei far notare due cose.
A) Nei primi anni nessuno dei due sapeva neanche in dettaglio cosa stesse
facendo e quali fossero i rischi dei materiali radioattivi.
B) Sempre nei primi anni era tanto importante produrre subito e in quantita'
testate nucleari che perdite umane e minimi standard erano ampiamente
acettati.
Ho visto qualche documentario russo a riguardo, cose da paura.
E non pensare che gli yankee fossero da meno.
C) Le armi balistiche ad uranio impoverito non sono altro che prodotti
derivati dal ciclo di arricchimento.
Sparale a casa degli altri e' solo un modo per smaltire scorie nucleari.
Saluti


 gli americani utilizzano protocolli rigidissimi
adesso devo ritrovare la rivista di 20 anni fa (l'Europeo, non la
Pravda) che spiegava come almeno 10000 impiegati che avevano a che
fare col nucleare militare sono stati licenziati perchè si facevano o
trincavano sul luogo di lavoro....
continua a credere alle favole, ANtola, che tanto il mondo reale
continua a restare lì fuori finchè non ci sbatti il grugno cominciando
a lavorare...

 in ogni caso un AK 47 non può contaminare mezzo mondo.
Su questo nons arei così sicuro: magari non è radioattivo, ma gli AK-47 
disseminati nel Terzo Mondo hanno fatto molti più danni e vittime delle 
contaminazioni nucleari.


a lavorare...
Eh, i tuoi ricordi di una rivista non specializzata di vent'anni fa sono 
proprio la fonte attendibile per antonomasia, eh? E secondo te un regime 
paranoico come quello sovietico si metteva a scherzare sulle testate 
nucleari? Tutti i reggimenti missilistici erano attentamente sorvegliati da 
distaccamenti del Terzo DIrettorato del KGB. E quella era gente che non 
scherzava.


 ai giorni nostri, č semplicemente orripilante e spaventoso.
Ma infatti quelli sono incidenti *industriali*. In nessun caso č mai esplosa 
una testata nucleare per errore.


#_Immortali... divini ...Pink Floyd!!!
Facciamoci un joint e nun ce peNZamo!
Giano 

 Facciamoci un joint e nun ce peNZamo!
Ma pure un bel trip di capodanno. 

 Ma pure un bel trip di capodanno.
Bleah, preferisco una Corona. ;-DDD


 Bleah, preferisco una Corona. ;-DDD
Perché non sei in modalità Pink Floyd.
The path you tread is narrow
And the drop is shear and very high
The ravens all are watching
From a vantage point nearby
Apprehension creeping
Like a tube-train up your spine
Will the tightrope reach the end
Will the final couplet rhyme
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
A butterfly with broken wings
Is falling by your side
The ravens all are closing in
And there's nowhere you can hide
Your manager and agent
Are both busy on the phone
Selling coloured photographs
To magazines back home
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
The lines converging where you stand
They must have moved the picture plane
The leaves are heavy around your feet
You hear the thunder of the train
And suddenly it strikes you
That they're moving into range
Doctor Strange is always changing size
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me

 una testata nucleare per errore.
Questo lo sapevo.
Il punto è che gli incidenti dimostrano il livello di attenzione russo alle 
procedure di sicurezza, anche in campo nucleare. Ma si potrebbe parlare anche di 
molto altro.
Tu hai la convinzione che le testate nucleari siano la luminosa eccezione.
Io molto meno.



Non so come sono fatte, ma devono avere un interblocco meccanico tra le
masse radioattive.
Nel caso tuoni la carica di innesco evitano la massa critica.
In effetti e' vero gli e' successo di tutto alle bombe nucleari, nessuna e'
esplosa.
Quando ho visto la lista degli incidenti nucleari militari mi sono messo le
mani nei capelli.
June 23, 1942 – Leipzig, Germany (then Nazi Germany) – steam explosion and
reactor fire
Shortly after the Leipzig L-IV atomic pile — worked on by Werner Heisenberg
and Robert Doepel — demonstrated Germany’s first signs of neutron
propagation, the device was checked for a possible heavy water leak. During
the inspection air leaked in igniting the uranium powder inside. The burning
uranium boiled the water jacket and generating enough steam pressure to blow
the reactor apart. Burning uranium powder scattered throughout the lab
causing a larger fire at the facility. [1]
 
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. dropped a tungsten carbide brick onto a plutonium
core, inadvertently creating a critical mass at the Los Alamos Omega site.
He quickly removed the brick, but was fatally irradiated, dying September
15.[2]
May 21, 1946 – Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA –
Accidental criticality
While demonstrating his technique to visiting scientists at Los Alamos,
Canadian physicist Louis Slotin manually assembled a critical mass of
plutonium. A momentary slip of a screwdriver caused a prompt critical
reaction. Slotin died on May 30 from massive radiation poisoning, with an
estimated dose of 1,000 rads (rad), or 10 grays (Gy). Seven observers, who
received doses as high as 166 rads, survived.[3] Both men, Daghlian and
Slotin, were working with the same bomb core which was known as the “demon
core.”
[edit] 1950s
February 13, 1950 – British Columbia, Canada – Non-nuclear detonation of a
simulated atomic bomb
An American B-36 bomber #44-92075 was flying a simulated combat mission from
Eielson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, Alaska, to Carswell Air Force Base
in Fort Worth, Texas carrying one weapon containing a dummy warhead. The
warhead contained uranium instead of plutonium. After six hours of flight,
the bomber experienced mechanical problems and was forced to shut down three
of its engines at an altitude of 12,000 feet. 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 feet. The weapon’s
high explosives detonated upon impact. All of the sixteen crew members and
one passenger were able to parachute from the plane and twelve were
subsequently rescued from Princess Royal Island. The Pentagon’s summary
report does not mention if the weapon was later recovered.[4]
April 11, 1950, – Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – Loss and recovery of
nuclear materials
Three minutes after departure from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque a
B-29 bomber carrying a nuclear weapon, four spare detonators, and a crew of
thirteen crashed into a mountain near Manzano Base. The crash resulted in a
fire which the New York Times reported as being visible from “fifteen
miles.” The bomb’s casing was completely demolished and its high explosives
ignited upon contact with the plane’s burning fuel. However, according to
the Department of Defense, 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.[4]
November 10, 1950 – Rivière du Loup, Québec, Canada – Non-nuclear detonation
of an atomic bomb
Returning one of several U.S. Mark 4 nuclear bombs secretly deployed in
Canada a B-50 had engine trouble and jettisoned the weapon at 10,500 feet
(3,200 m). The crew set the bomb to self-destruct at 2,500 feet (750 m) and
dropped over the St. Lawrence River. The explosion shook area residents and
scattered nearly 100 pounds (45 kg) of depleted uranium used in the weapon's
tamper. The plutonium core (“pit”) was not in the bomb at the time.[5]
 
.March 1, 1954 – Bikini Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands (then Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands) – Nuclear test accident
During the Castle Bravo test of the first deployable hydrogen bomb, a
miscalculation resulted in the explosion being over twice as large as
predicted, with a total explosive force of 15 megatons. Of the total 15
megaton yield, 10 megatons were from fission of the natural uranium tamper,
but those fission reactions were quite dirty, producing a large amount of
fallout. Combined with the much-larger-than-expected yield and an
unanticipated wind shift Radioactive fallout was spread eastward onto the
inhabited Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls. These islands were evacuated, but
many of the Marshall Islands natives have since suffered from birth defects
and have received some compensation from the federal government. A Japanese
fishing boat, Daigo Fukuryu Maru, also came into contact with the fallout,
which caused many of the crew to take ill with one fatality. The test
resulted in an international uproar and reignited Japanese concerns about
radiation, especially with regard to the possible contamination of fish.
November 29, 1955 – Idaho, USA – Partial meltdown
Operator error led to a partial core meltdown in the experimental EBR-I
breeder reactor, resulting in temporarily elevated radioactivity levels in
the reactor building and necessitating a significant repair.[6][7]
July 27, 1956 – Lakenheath in Suffolk, UK – Nuclear weapons damaged
A B-47 crashed into a storage igloo spreading burning fuel over three Mark 6
nuclear bombs at RAF Lakenheath. 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.[8]
September 11, 1957 – Denver, Colorado, USA – Fire, release of nuclear
materials
A fire began in a materials handling glove box and spread through the
ventilation system into the stack filters at the Rocky Flats weapons mill 27
km from Denver, Colorado. Plutonium and other contaminants were released,
but the exact amount of which is unknown; estimates range from 25 mg to 250
kg.
September 29, 1957 – Mayak, Russia (then USSR) – Explosion, release of
nuclear materials
A cooling system failure resulted in a major explosion and release of
radioactive materials. Hundreds of people died and hundreds of thousands
were evacuated.[13]
October 8–12, 1957 – Sellafield, Cumbria, UK – Reactor core fire
See Windscale fire. Technicians mistakenly overheated Windscale Pile No. 1
during an annealing process to release Wigner energy from graphite portions
of the reactor. Poorly placed temperature sensors indicated the reactor was
cooling rather than heating. The excess heat lead 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 firebreak 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 iodine-131
(131I). Milk distribution was banned in a 200 mi² (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 plutonium. [14][15][16]
January 31, 1958 – Morocco – Nuclear bomb damaged in crash
During a simulated takeoff a wheel failure caused the tail of a USAF 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.[17][18]
February 5, 1958 – Savannah, Georgia, USA – Nuclear bomb lost
see Tybee Bomb. A B-47 bomber jettisoned a Mark 15 Mod 0 nuclear bomb over
the Atlantic Ocean after a midair collision with an F-86 Sabre during a
simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. The
F-86’s pilot ejected and parachuted to safety. The USAF claimed the B-47
tried landing at Hunter Air Force Base three times before the bomb was
jettisoned at 7,200 ft near Tybee Island, Georgia. The B-47 pilot maintains
he successfully landed in one attempt only after he first jettisoned the
bomb. A 3 square mile area near Wassaw Sound was searched for 9 weeks before
the search was called off. The bomb was searched for in 2001 and not found.
A new group in 2004 claims to have found an underwater object which it
thinks is the bomb.[19]
March 11, 1958 – Florence, South Carolina, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of a
nuclear bomb
A B-47 bomber flying from Savannah, Georgia accidentally released a nuclear
bomb after the bomb lock failed. The chemical explosives detonated on impact
in the suburban neighborhood of Florence, South Carolina. Radioactive
substances were flung across the area. Several minor injuries resulted and
the destruction of the house it fell on. No radiation sickness occurred.
June 16, 1958 – Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA – Accidental criticality
A supercritical portion of highly enriched uranyl nitrate was allowed to
collect in the drum causing a prompt neutron criticality in in the C-1 wing
of building 9212 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Y-12 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 neutron
doses ranging from 30 to 477 rems. No fatalities were reported.[20]
December 30, 1958 – Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA – Accidental criticality
During chemical purification a critical mass of a plutonium solution was
accidentally assembled at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The crane operator
died of acute radiation sickness. The March, 1961 Journal of Occupational
Medicine printed a special supplement medically analyzing this accident.
Hand-manipulations of critical assemblies were abandoned as a matter of
policy in U.S. federal facilities after this accident.[20]
November 20, 1959 – Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA – Explosion
A chemical explosion occurred during decontamination of processing machinery
in the radiochemical processing plant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
Tennessee . (Report ORNL-2989, Oak Ridge National Laboratory). The accident
resulted in the release of about 15 grams of 239Pu.
June 7, 1960 – New Egypt, New Jersey, USA – Nuclear warhead damaged by fire
A helium tank exploded and ruptured the fuel tanks of a BOMARC-A
surface-to-air missile at McGuire Air Force Base. The fire destroyed the
missile, and contaminated the area directly below and adjacent to the
missile.[18]
October 13, 1960 – Barents Sea, Arctic Ocean – Release of nuclear materials
A leak developed in the steam generators and in a pipe leading to the
compensator reception on the ill-fated K-8 while the Soviet Northern Fleet
November-class submarine was on exercise. While the crew rigged an
improvised cooling system, radioactive gases leaked into the vessel 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 Sv (180 - 200 rem).[21]
 
January 3, 1961 – National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho, USA – Accidental
criticality, steam explosion
During maintenance procedures the SL-1 experimental nuclear reactor
underwent a prompt critical reaction causing the water surrounding the core
to explosively vaporize. A pressure wave struck the top of the reactor
vessel propelling the control rods and entire reactor vessel upwards. One
operator who had been standing on top of the vessel was killed when flying
control rods pinned him to the ceiling. Two other military personnel
supervising the maintenance operations were also killed. See SL-1.
January 24, 1961 – A B-52 bomber suffered a fire caused by a major leak in a
wing fuel cell and exploded in midair 12 miles (20 km) north of Seymour
Johnson Air Force Base, Goldsboro, North Carolina. The incident released the
bomber’s two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs. Five crewmen parachuted to safety, but
three died—two in the aircraft and one on landing. 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 capacitors
and, critically, the deployment of a 100 foot (30 m) diameter retardation
parachute. 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, and so the weapon did not detonate. The other bomb plunged into a
muddy field at around 700 miles per hour (300 m/s) and disintegrated. Its
tail was discovered about 20 feet (7 m) down and much of the bomb recovered,
including the tritium bottle and the plutonium. However, excavation was
abandoned because of uncontrollable flooding by ground water, and most of
the thermonuclear stage, containing uranium, was left in situ. It was
estimated to lie at around 180 feet (55 m). The Air Force 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. [22]
July 4, 1961 – The Soviet Hotel-class submarine K-19 experienced a major
accident after a reactor cooling system failed off the coast of Norway. The
incident contaminated the crew, parts of the ship, and some of the ballistic
missiles carried onboard, and several fatalities resulted. Reactor core
temperatures reached 800 °C, nearly enough to melt the fuel rods, although
the crew was able to regain temperature control by using emergency
procedures. The movie K-19: The Widowmaker, starring Harrison Ford and Liam
Neeson, offers a controversially fictionalized story of these events.
April 21, 1964 – A U.S. Transit-5BN-3 nuclear-powered navigational satellite
failed to reach orbital velocity and began falling back down at 150,000 feet
(46 km) above the Indian Ocean. The satellite’s SNAP generator contained 16
kCi (590 TBq) of 238Pu, which at least partially burned upon reentry.
Increased levels of 238Pu were first documented in the stratosphere four
months later. The EPA estimated the abortive launch resulted in little 238Pu
contamination to human lungs (0.06 mrem or 0.6 µSv) compared to fallout from
weapons tests in the 1950s (0.35 mrem or 3.5 µSv) or the EPA’s Clean Air Act
airborne exposure limit of 10 mrem (100 µSv).[23][24]
January 1965 – An accident at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
releases 300 kCi (11 PBq) of radioactive material.
October 1965 – A fire at Rocky Flats exposes a crew of 25 to up to 17 times
the legal limit for radiation.
December 5, 1965 – An A-4E Skyhawk aircraft with one B43 nuclear bomb on
board falls off the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga into 16,200 feet (4.9 km)
of water off the coast of Japan. The ship was traveling from Vietnam to
Yokosuka, Japan. The plane, pilot and weapon are never recovered. There is
dispute over exactly where the incident took place—the U.S. Defense
Department originally stated it took place 500 miles (800 km) off the coast
of Japan, but Navy documents later show it happened about 80 miles (130 km)
from the Ryukyu Islands and 200 miles (320 km) from Okinawa. [25]
January 17, 1966 – Near Palomares, Spain, during over-ocean in-flight
refueling, a B-52 collides with a USAF KC-135 jet tanker in the Palomares
hydrogen bombs incident. Eight of the eleven crew members were killed. The
KC-135’s 40,000 U.S. gallons (150,000 L) of jet fuel burned. Two hydrogen
bombs ruptured, dispersing radioactive particles over nearby farms. An
intact bomb lands near Palomares. The fourth bomb was lost at sea, 12 miles
(20 km) off the coast. A three month search involving 12,000 men was
required to recover the lost bomb. The U.S. Navy employed the use of the
deep-diving research submarine DSV Alvin to aid in the recovery efforts.
During the ensuing cleanup, 1,500 tonnes of radioactive soil and tomato
plants are shipped to a nuclear dump in Aiken, South Carolina. The U.S.
settled claims by 522 Palomares residents for $600,000. The town also
received a $200,000 desalinization plant. The motion picture Men of Honor
(2000), starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. as USN Diver Carl Brashear, and Robert De
Niro as USN Diver Billy Sunday, contained an account of the fourth bomb’s
recovery.
Winter 1966-1967 (date unknown) – The Soviet icebreaker Lenin, the USSR’s
first nuclear-powered surface ship, suffers a major accident (possibly a
meltdown—exactly what happened remains a matter of controversy in the West)
in one of its three reactors. It was rumored that around 30 of the crew were
killed. The ship was abandoned for a year to allow radiation levels to drop
before the three reactors were removed, to be dumped into the Tsivolko Fjord
on the Kara Sea, along with 60% of the fuel elements packed in a separate
container. The reactors were replaced with two new ones, and she reentered
service in 1970.
January 22, 1968 – 7 miles (11 km) south of Thule Air Force Base, Greenland,
a fire breaks out in the navigator’s compartment of a B-52 which crashes,
scattering three hydrogen bombs on land and dropping one into the sea.
During a cleanup complicated by Greenland’s harsh weather, contaminated ice
and aircraft debris are buried in the U.S. Bomb fragments were recycled by
Pantex, in Amarillo, Texas. Danes were outraged by the event because
Greenland is a Danish possession, and Denmark forbids nuclear weapons on its
territory. Denmark had massive demonstrations against the U.S. One warhead
was recovered by Navy SEALs and Seabees (U.S. naval engineers) in 1979. An
August 2000 report suggests that the other bomb remains at the bottom of
Baffin Bay.
May 24, 1968 – The Soviet nuclear submarine K-27 (Project 645) was out at
sea. During sea trials, the nuclear reactor had operated at reduced power,
and on May 24, power inexplicably suddenly dropped. Attempts by the crew to
restore power levels failed. Simultaneously, &#947; radiation in the reactor
compartment increased to 150 rad/h. Radioactive gases were released to the
reactor compartment from the safety buffer tank, and radiation on board the
submarine increased. The reactor was shut down, and approximately 20% of the
fuel assemblies were damaged. The incident was caused by problems in the
cooling of the reactor core The entire submarine was scuttled in the Kara
Sea in 1981.
August 27, 1968 – The Project 667A Yankee-class nuclear submarine K-140 was
in the naval yard at Severodvinsk for repairs. On August 27, an uncontrolled
increase of the reactor’s power occurred following work to upgrade the
vessel. One of the reactors started up automatically when the control rods
were raised to a higher position. Power increased to 18 times its normal
amount, while pressure and temperature levels in the reactor increased to
four times the normal amount. The automatic start-up of the reactor was
caused by the incorrect installation of the control rod electrical cables
and by operator error. Radiation levels aboard the vessel deteriorated.
May 11, 1969 – 5 kilograms of plutonium burn at Rocky Flats. Hundreds of
railway cars are used to transport the contamination to Idaho Falls, where
it is left in unlined trenches over one of the U.S.’s most significant
aquifers. The Colorado Committee for Environmental Information deployed
scientists with sophisticated measuring equipment, putting officials on
notice that the public now had the capacity to discover and report releases
of radioactive substances. The committee’s work in response to the fire
discovered radioactive residue in areas near Rocky Flats that provided
evidence of gradual build-up of radioactive compounds during the years of
Rocky Flats operation.
July 24, 1969 – A serious fire at the AEC’s Nuclear Trigger Assembly
Facility at Rocky Flats in Colorado suspends U.S. missile production. Areas
downwind are contaminated by plutonium. Several factory buildings become
uninhabitable and are later dismantled and buried.
April 12, 1970 – The Soviet November-class attack submarine K-8 apparently
experiences problems with its nuclear propulsion system while in the
Atlantic Ocean. The crew attempts to hook a tow line to an East Bloc
merchant vessel, but fails. The ship sinks, killing 52.[26]
April 17, 1970 – Apollo XIII returns to Earth, jettisoning a SNAP 27
radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that contained approximately 3.9
kg of plutonium. This device was intended to be left on the lunar surface.
However, the lunar landing was aborted, and the device returned to Earth
with the spacecraft. The RTG survived reentry; however, it has not been
recovered from its resting place in the Tonga Trench.
December 12, 1971 – In the Thames River near New London, Connecticut,
radioactive coolant water is being transferred from the submarine USS Dace
to the submarine tender USS Fulton when 500 U.S. gallons (1,900 L) are
spilled into the river.
December 1972 – A major fire and two explosions at a plutonium fabrication
plant in Pawling, New York, cause plutonium to contaminate the plant and
grounds, resulting in its permanent shutdown.
1975 – The American Sturgeon-class submarine USS Guardfish attempts to dump
the depleted resin from its purification system (used to remove dissolved
radioactive minerals and particles from the primary coolant loops of
submarines). The ship is contaminated when the wind blows resin back onto
the ship. This type of accident was fairly common; however, U.S. Navy
nuclear vessels no longer discharge resin at sea.
October–November 1975 – While disabled, the submarine tender USS Proteus
discharges radioactive coolant water into Apra Harbor, Guam. A Geiger
counter at two of the harbor's public beaches showed 100 millirems/hour,
fifty times the allowable dose.
August 1976 – An explosion at a Hanford, Washington, Plutonium Finishing
Plant contaminated several workers. The plant converted plutonium nitrate
solutions into metallic form for nuclear weapons production facilities. The
explosion blew out a quarter-inch-thick lead glass window that shielded
workers from radioactive materials. One 64-year-old worker, Harold
McCluskey, was showered with nitric acid and radioactive pieces of glass.
The worker inhaled the largest dose of 241Am ever recorded. He inhaled about
500 times the U.S. government occupational standards for the element. 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. When the worker returned home, friends and
church members avoided him. His minister finally had to tell people it was
safe to be around him. He died of natural causes in 1987 at age 75.[27]
1977 – The Soviet submarine K-171 accidentally releases a nuclear warhead
while off the coast of Kamchatka. After a frantic search involving dozens of
ships and aircraft, the warhead is recovered.[28]
January 24, 1978 – Cosmos 954, a Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite
with an onboard nuclear reactor, breaks up on reentry over Canada; some
radioactive pieces were recovered.
May 22, 1978 – Aboard the submarine USS Puffer near Puget Sound, Washington,
a valve was mistakenly opened, releasing up to 500 U.S. gallons (1,900 L) of
radioactive water.
July 16, 1979 (34th anniversary of the Trinity test) – In Church Rock, New
Mexico, the earth/clay dike of a uranium mill’s “temporary”
settling/evaporating pond fails. The pond was past its planned and licensed
life and had been filled two feet (60 cm) deeper than design, despite
evident cracking. The incident drains about 100 million U.S. gallons
(380,000 m³) of radioactive liquids and 1,100 short tons (1,000 metric tons)
of solid wastes, which settle out up to 70 miles (100 km) down the Rio
Puerco.[29]
September 18, 1980 – On September 18, 1980, at about 6:30 p.m., an airman
conducting maintenance on the Titan-II missile at Launch Complex 374-7 in
Southside (Van Buren County), just north of Damascus, Arkansas, dropped a
wrench socket, which fell about eighty feet before hitting and piercing the
skin on the rocket’s first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak. At about
3:00 a.m., on September 19, 1980, the missile exploded. The W53 warhead
landed about 100 feet 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 complex was destroyed.[30]
August 8, 1982 – While on duty in the Barents Sea, there was a release of
liquid metal coolant from the reactor of the Soviet Project 705 Alfa-class
submarine K-123. 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 such that it had to be replaced. It took
nine years to repair the submarine.
January 3, 1983 – The Soviet nuclear-powered spy satellite Kosmos 1402 burns
up over the South Atlantic.
August 10, 1985 – About 35 miles (55 km) from Vladivostok in Chazhma Bay, a
Soviet Echo-class submarine had a reactor explosion, producing fatally high
levels of radiation. Ten officers are killed, but the deadly cloud of
radioactivity does not reach Vladivostok.[31]
1986 – The U.S. government declassifies 19,000 pages of documents indicating
that between 1946 and 1986, the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington,
released thousands of US gallons (several m³) of radioactive liquids. Of
270,000 people living in the affected area, most received low doses of
radiation from 131I.
October 3, 1986 – 480 miles (770 km) east of Bermuda, K-219, a Soviet Yankee
I-class submarine experienced an explosion in one of its nuclear missile
tubes and at least three crew members were killed. Sixteen nuclear missiles
and two reactors were on board. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachyov privately
communicated news of the disaster to U.S. President Ronald Reagan 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
(5.5 km) of water.[32]
October 1988 – At the nuclear trigger assembly facility at Rocky Flats in
Colorado, two employees and a D.O.E. inspector inhale radioactive particles,
causing closure of the plant. Several safety violations were cited,
including uncalibrated monitors, inadequate fire equipment, and groundwater
contaminated with radioactivity.
In effetti dopo le follie dei primi anni pare la situazione migliori.
Ci sono comunque parechie bombe nucleari perse in giro, robe da matti.
Chissa' i prossimi archeologi che festa.
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 Chissa' i prossimi archeologi che festa.
Prima dovranno risolvere il mistero dela bottiglia di Coca Cola in orbita.


 Io molto meno.
Certo che ho questa convinzione, e ti spiego anche perchè: al Politburo 
forse non fregava un cazzo che vi fossero perdite radioattive nei fiumi. Ma 
gli fregava sicuramente che nessuno in URSS potesse ritrovarsi con una bomba 
atomica nelle manine (senza controllo gerarchico), così come gli fregava di 
non ritrovarsi con il cerino in mano in caso di attacco nucleare americano 
(come sarebbe avvenuto se le testate fossero state inaffidabili). I 
sovietici hanno sempre ragionato così, non c'è niente da fare: per lo stesso 
motivo se ne fregavano se i medicinali facevano cagare, o se la produzione 
industriale di beni di consumo ristagnava.
Inoltre gli impianti per la lavorazione del plutonio sono molto vecchi (fra 
parentesi anche gli USA hanno dei problemi da questo punto di vista), e 
progettati in un periodo dove era essenziale avere più plutonio possibile 
(quando gli USA avevano già impianti ben avviati e un certo vantaggio in 
quantità di testate) piuttosto che preoccuparsi dell'ecologia. E tu sai chi 
era il capo del programma allora...


 Perché non sei in modalità Pink Floyd.
LOL. Ieri ero in un'altra modalità ;-DDD
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#_Ecco un altro Monarchico blasfemo! : ///
G. 

 #_Ecco un altro Monarchico blasfemo! : ///
Inchinati a Sua Maestà:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagen:Corona.jpg
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