MILNET: Nuclear Incidents

Sandia Base, New Mexico, Spring 1952

During a training session at plant #1, Air Force weapons handlers were training Army handlers. A bored soldier was cycling a cable hoist up and down. The cable hoist end was mated to a heavy U-bolt with a 1 inch diameter bolt and nut. The nut was on the bolt with a couple of turns, just to keep it in place while the hoist was not in use. The nut, through vibration, untwisted, and fell into the crating area below, where a nuclear weapon lay. This particular weapon had detonators installed, with the casing open, exposing the detonators to view. The nut fell into the weapon, missing the detonator (which one might assume is sensitive to large impacts) by only about 3/4 of an inch. It hit with enough force to leave a mark about 1/8 inch deep and about 2 inches long. No other damage occurred. We presume the weapon was being "safed" by removal of detonators prior to crating, and other failsafes would have been in place as well. However, a low order HE explosion could have occurred, spreading nuclear contaminants over the area.

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, 1952 - Corroborated by other accounts

During the loading of a nuclear weapon aboard a USAF bomber at Kirtland AFB, a chain host lifting the heavy weapon failed. The weapon fell some ten feet to the pavement and rolled up against the landing gear, which kept it from rolling further down the ramp. Only visible damage was to the casing and fin, however no material was exposed and it is presumed the weapon was not armed (weapons are typically not armed as part of loading operations). A low order explosion could have occurred however, with the possibility of the spread of nuclear contanimants.

Sandia Base, New Mexico, 1952

On the loading dock of Plant #1, a Hyster Fork Lift operator drove too close to the edge of the platform, and had to stomp on the brakes to prevent the fork lift and cargo from falling off the platform. Unfortunately, the cargo, a 12,000 pound, crated nuclear weapon, slid off the forks and over the platform edge, rolling down an embankment. The crate burst open and the bomb (being cylindrical) rolled until it struck a small tree. The tree prevented the weapon from rolling into the administration building. No external damage was noted, other than scarring of the surface of the weapon and fins one might expect from being rolled around on pavement and a rocky embankment. Crated weapons are not armed, so there was no danger of high level detonation, however, this sort of impact could have been cause for a low order HE explosion releasing nuclear contaminants.

In these three cases, no report is given on the internal damage or disposition of the weapons post-incident. These three reports are from an eyewitness account of a serviceman part of the operations at the time.

Here's a report from one of our sources that reports on an incident at Stony Brook Air Station in the summer of 1957 or 1958.