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Highly suggest reading "command and control" by eric schlosser (fast food nation). Terrifying but amazing book: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-

Highly suggest reading "command and control" by eric schlosser (fast food nation). Terrifying but amazing book: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788 https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Ill... I'm really not sure why we're still alive.

kqr2 10y ago
There is also a documentary which includes some reenactments of the incident: http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/ http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/
- throwaway7645 10y ago
  Watched this recently. We almost lost Little Rock & most of Arkansas along with western Tennessee (Memphis). The documentary was horrifying.
  - leeoniya 10y ago
    also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
    - acqq 10y ago
      Yes, there were two bombs as the plane broke. One bomb, from its internal perspective, had a "fully normal drop": there was the switch that was triggered only once the bomb actually leaves the plane through the expected door -- it was activated as the plane broke exactly in a way that from the bomb perspective it simply wasn't an accident but "do it." On that bomb, the only switch that wasn't "on" was the one which a crew member was supposed to pull prior to the drop. On the another bomb, from which point of view the dropping sequence was less "normal" (the breakup of the plane made less clear-cut case from the perspective of that one, so some internal components didn't activate) the same switch was discovered in the "on" position. So it was really, really close call. (A "small" curiosity: These bombs are two-stage bombs, one weaker nuclear explosion forces the next, one stronger. The "weaker one" part of one of the bombs, with its radioactive content that has enough material for a nuclear explosion is still there(!) deep in the ground.)
  - flashman 10y ago
    > We almost lost Little Rock & most of Arkansas Hardly. For starters, I don't agree that the risk of nuclear explosion was high, given the electronic precision required to detonate a hydrogen bomb's explosive lenses correctly. And had the W53 warhead exploded at its full nine-megaton potential, Nukemap[1] predicts 3rd-degree burns would not have extended even as far as Conway, and 11000 casualties of which 2500 were fatal (probably much less with a 1980 population). The state would have faced a greater threat from fallout, but considering the advance warning of a detonation, lack of damage to infrastructure outside the immediate blast zone, and general cold war readiness for the effects of a nuclear explosion, casualties from fallout would have been far below the worst-case scenario. Two days' shelter while fallout radiation fell to 1% of its initial level would be easily achievable. [1] https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
    - nikanj 10y ago
      People won't even move close to a nuclear power plant, I don't think they'd be willing to move to a fallout zone. In that sense, we would've lost Arkansas, turning it into a place with hardly any residents
    - acqq 10y ago
      > given the electronic precision required to detonate a hydrogen bomb's explosive lenses correctly Please do explain that. As far as I understand, the explosives and the radioactive materials are all there in the warhead, the "precision" only affects the "quality" of the explosion (i.e. the number of "megadeaths" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeath ) Only the first few atom bombs had the missing part of the radioactive matter outside the of the bomb when the bomb was fully unarmed, technically making the explosion impossible, as there isn't enough mass for an explosion without the missing part. But since the early fifties, all the material needed for the nuclear explosion is always in the warhead. Note that in the event here discussed (it was an explosion of the fully equipped H-warhead missile in Damascus, Arkansas, US) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_ex... really nothing "special" happened: one of the technicians just accidentally dropped one metal socket during his maintenance work, that was all: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bonus-video/command-and-control-scene-breakdown-socket/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bonus-vi... And that was enough to cause the explosion of the rocket. Would any "expert" before that event claim it was all that was needed?
- AdamJacobMuller 10y ago
  Wow, I had no idea. Thank you.
rtb 10y ago
> I'm really not sure why we're still alive. Anthropic principle / many-worlds interpretation? All the outcomes in which these accidents lead to nuclear war are no longer observable ;-)

kqr2 10y ago

There is also a documentary which includes some reenactments of the incident: http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/ http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/

throwaway7645 10y ago
Watched this recently. We almost lost Little Rock & most of Arkansas along with western Tennessee (Memphis). The documentary was horrifying.
- leeoniya 10y ago
  also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
  - acqq 10y ago
    Yes, there were two bombs as the plane broke. One bomb, from its internal perspective, had a "fully normal drop": there was the switch that was triggered only once the bomb actually leaves the plane through the expected door -- it was activated as the plane broke exactly in a way that from the bomb perspective it simply wasn't an accident but "do it." On that bomb, the only switch that wasn't "on" was the one which a crew member was supposed to pull prior to the drop. On the another bomb, from which point of view the dropping sequence was less "normal" (the breakup of the plane made less clear-cut case from the perspective of that one, so some internal components didn't activate) the same switch was discovered in the "on" position. So it was really, really close call. (A "small" curiosity: These bombs are two-stage bombs, one weaker nuclear explosion forces the next, one stronger. The "weaker one" part of one of the bombs, with its radioactive content that has enough material for a nuclear explosion is still there(!) deep in the ground.)
- flashman 10y ago
  > We almost lost Little Rock & most of Arkansas Hardly. For starters, I don't agree that the risk of nuclear explosion was high, given the electronic precision required to detonate a hydrogen bomb's explosive lenses correctly. And had the W53 warhead exploded at its full nine-megaton potential, Nukemap[1] predicts 3rd-degree burns would not have extended even as far as Conway, and 11000 casualties of which 2500 were fatal (probably much less with a 1980 population). The state would have faced a greater threat from fallout, but considering the advance warning of a detonation, lack of damage to infrastructure outside the immediate blast zone, and general cold war readiness for the effects of a nuclear explosion, casualties from fallout would have been far below the worst-case scenario. Two days' shelter while fallout radiation fell to 1% of its initial level would be easily achievable. [1] https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
  - nikanj 10y ago
    People won't even move close to a nuclear power plant, I don't think they'd be willing to move to a fallout zone. In that sense, we would've lost Arkansas, turning it into a place with hardly any residents
  - acqq 10y ago
    > given the electronic precision required to detonate a hydrogen bomb's explosive lenses correctly Please do explain that. As far as I understand, the explosives and the radioactive materials are all there in the warhead, the "precision" only affects the "quality" of the explosion (i.e. the number of "megadeaths" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeath ) Only the first few atom bombs had the missing part of the radioactive matter outside the of the bomb when the bomb was fully unarmed, technically making the explosion impossible, as there isn't enough mass for an explosion without the missing part. But since the early fifties, all the material needed for the nuclear explosion is always in the warhead. Note that in the event here discussed (it was an explosion of the fully equipped H-warhead missile in Damascus, Arkansas, US) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_ex... really nothing "special" happened: one of the technicians just accidentally dropped one metal socket during his maintenance work, that was all: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bonus-video/command-and-control-scene-breakdown-socket/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bonus-vi... And that was enough to cause the explosion of the rocket. Would any "expert" before that event claim it was all that was needed?
AdamJacobMuller 10y ago
Wow, I had no idea. Thank you.

rtb 10y ago

> I'm really not sure why we're still alive. Anthropic principle / many-worlds interpretation? All the outcomes in which these accidents lead to nuclear war are no longer observable ;-)