United States military nuclear incident terminology The United States Armed Forces uses a number of terms to define the magnitude and extent of nuclear incidents . Origin . United States Department of Defense directive 5230 . 16 , " Nuclear Accident and Incident Public Affairs ( PA ) Guidance " , Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Manual 3150 . 03B " Joint Reporting Structure Event and Incident Reporting " , and the United States Air Force Operation Reporting System , as set out in Air Force Instruction 10 - 206 detail a number of terms for internally and externally ( including press releases ) reporting nuclear incidents . They are used by the United States of America , and are neither NATO nor global standards . Terminology . Pinnacle . " Pinnacle " is a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff OPREP - 3 ( Operational Event / Incident Report ) reporting flagword used in the United States National Command Authority structure . The term " Pinnacle " denotes an incident of interest to the Major Command s , Department of Defense and National Command Authority , in that it : All of the following reporting terms are classified " Pinnacle " , with the exception of " Bent Spear " , " Faded Giant " and " Dull Sword " . AFI 10 - 206 notes that the flagword " Pinnacle " may be added to " Bent Spear " or " Faded Giant " to expedite reporting to the National Military Command Center ( NMCC ) . Bent Spear . " Bent Spear " refers to incidents involving nuclear weapons , warheads , components or vehicles transporting nuclear material that are of significant interest but are not categorized as " Pinnacle - Nucflash " or " Pinnacle - Broken Arrow " . " Bent Spear " incidents include violations or breaches of handling and security regulations . A recent " Bent Spear " example is the August 2007 flight of a B - 52 bomber from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB which carried six cruise missiles with live nuclear warheads . Broken Arrow . " Pinnacle - Broken Arrow " refers to an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons , warheads or components , but which does not create the risk of nuclear war . These include : Examples of Broken Arrow events are : NUCFLASH . " Pinnacle - Nucflash " refers to detonation or possible detonation of a nuclear weapon which creates a risk of an outbreak of nuclear war . Events which may be classified " Pinnacle - Nucflash " include : This term ( " Pinnacle Nucflash " ) is a report that has the highest precedence in the OPREP - 3 reporting structure . All other reporting terms such as " Broken Arrow " , " Empty Quiver " , etc . , while very important , are secondary to this report . ( Reference Air Force Instruction 10 - 206 , dated 4 October 2004 ) Emergency Disablement . " Pinnacle - Emergency Disablement " refers to operations involving the emergency destruction of nuclear weapons . Emergency Evacuation . " Pinnacle - Emergency Evacuation " refers to operations involving the emergency evacuation of nuclear weapons . Empty Quiver . " Pinnacle - Empty Quiver " refers to the seizure , theft , or loss of a functioning nuclear weapon . Faded Giant . " Faded Giant " refers to an event involving a military nuclear reactor or other radiological accident not involving nuclear weapons . Dull Sword . " Dull Sword " is the term that describes reports of minor incidents involving nuclear weapons , components or systems , or which could impair their deployment . This could include actions involving vehicles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but with no nuclear weapons on board at the time of the accident . This also is used to report damage or deficiencies with equipment , tools , or diagnostic testers that are designed for use on nuclear weapons or the nuclear weapon release systems of nuclear - capable aircraft . In popular culture . Several of these terms have , in various forms , entered popular culture . They have not always been used correctly .