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Don't forget there are "lost" nuclear bombs all over the world including North Carolina. "oh well we can't find it, we're got plenty more anyway, what's the wo

by ck2 3y ago

Don't forget there are "lost" nuclear bombs all over the world including North Carolina. "oh well we can't find it, we're got plenty more anyway, what's the worst that could happen someday when everyone forgets it's there" https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220804-the-lost-nuclear-bombs-that-no-one-can-find https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220804-the-lost-nuclear... > a B-52 broke up while flying over Goldsboro, North Carolina, dropping two nuclear weapons to the ground. One was relatively undamaged after its parachute deployed successfully, but a later examination revealed that three out of four safeguards had failed

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
> a B-52 broke up while flying over Goldsboro, North Carolina, dropping two nuclear weapons to the ground. One was relatively undamaged after its parachute deployed successfully, but a later examination revealed that three out of four safeguards had failed Okay, that's scary. I can just imagine someone looking to improve efficiency or cost savings thinking that four safeguards is over-engineered.
- hoherd 3y ago
  Sam Harris podcast episode 210[1] had guests William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense and founding member of Nuclear Threat Initiative[2], and his grand daughter Lisa Perry, Communications Director at At The Brink[3], to talk in large part about that scary aspect of nuclear weapons, and how an accidental nuclear war is more likely than a deliberate one. [1] https://youtu.be/NVnwc4rZI_0?t=12m40s https://youtu.be/NVnwc4rZI_0?t=12m40s Episode 210 (no paywall) [2] https://www.nti.org https://www.nti.org "focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats" [3] https://atthebrink.org https://atthebrink.org Podcast about the modern situation with nuclear weapons
- k1t 3y ago
  My understanding is that all of the safeguards worked as intended and characterizing them as 'failed' is a bit unfair. The three that "failed" were designed to prevent the bomb exploding on the runway (before take-off), on the plane (before being dropped), or in the air (before the plane could escape). Since this event involved a plane taking off, dropping the bomb, and the bomb parachuting to the ground - it was largely indistinguishable (to the bomb) from an actual intentional event. Only the cockpit Safe/Air/Ground selector prevented detonation. Note that the cockpit selector did fail in other incidents, arming bombs while still in the 'safe' position due to a short circuit elsewhere.
- gibspaulding 3y ago
  Here's a fun/terrifying Wikipedia rabbit hole for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accid... I think my favorite is when we accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb in someone's yard in South Carolina.

by ck2 3y ago

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago

> a B-52 broke up while flying over Goldsboro, North Carolina, dropping two nuclear weapons to the ground. One was relatively undamaged after its parachute deployed successfully, but a later examination revealed that three out of four safeguards had failed Okay, that's scary. I can just imagine someone looking to improve efficiency or cost savings thinking that four safeguards is over-engineered.

hoherd 3y ago
Sam Harris podcast episode 210[1] had guests William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense and founding member of Nuclear Threat Initiative[2], and his grand daughter Lisa Perry, Communications Director at At The Brink[3], to talk in large part about that scary aspect of nuclear weapons, and how an accidental nuclear war is more likely than a deliberate one. [1] https://youtu.be/NVnwc4rZI_0?t=12m40s https://youtu.be/NVnwc4rZI_0?t=12m40s Episode 210 (no paywall) [2] https://www.nti.org https://www.nti.org "focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats" [3] https://atthebrink.org https://atthebrink.org Podcast about the modern situation with nuclear weapons
k1t 3y ago
My understanding is that all of the safeguards worked as intended and characterizing them as 'failed' is a bit unfair. The three that "failed" were designed to prevent the bomb exploding on the runway (before take-off), on the plane (before being dropped), or in the air (before the plane could escape). Since this event involved a plane taking off, dropping the bomb, and the bomb parachuting to the ground - it was largely indistinguishable (to the bomb) from an actual intentional event. Only the cockpit Safe/Air/Ground selector prevented detonation. Note that the cockpit selector did fail in other incidents, arming bombs while still in the 'safe' position due to a short circuit elsewhere.
gibspaulding 3y ago
Here's a fun/terrifying Wikipedia rabbit hole for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accid... I think my favorite is when we accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb in someone's yard in South Carolina.