If a simple switch hadn't failed...

[Hibbyradge]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24183879

260 times bigger than Nagasaki!

Now that's a story to fire up the imagination.

Anyone fancy collaborating on a film script?

[sleeping giant]

I seen a documentary on Discovery about the USSR's nuclear defence systems malfunctioning during the cold war.
The system was saying that there were incoming Nuclear bombs and the guy who was controlling the release of USSR's weapons was fired as he did not release their bombs in retaliation even though it was a faulty warning system.

Scary stuff indeed.

[john18722]

I seen a documentary on Discovery about the USSR's nuclear defence systems malfunctioning during the cold war.
The system was saying that there were incoming Nuclear bombs and the guy who was controlling the release of USSR's weapons was fired as he did not release their bombs in retaliation even though it was a faulty warning system.

Scary stuff indeed.

Sounds a bit like the script of War Games!

[sleeping giant]

Sounds a bit like the script of War Games!

I was nearly right :greengrin The release of nuclear weapons wasn't entirely at his disposal and it doesnt look like he was fired either :hilarious

Not sure if its my memory or if Discovery tweaked it for dramatic effect :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/shatter021099b.htm

http://gimundo.com/news/article/the-man-who-saved-the-world-by-doing-nothing/

[barcahibs]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24183879

260 times bigger than Nagasaki!

Now that's a story to fire up the imagination.

Anyone fancy collaborating on a film script?

From what I can gather its a bit sensationalist. The physics package (ie the nuclear bomb bit) wouldn't have gone off, there were mechanical safeguards which made that absolutely impossible. It would have been more like a dirty bomb, scattering radioactive material over a huge area. Not much better really I suppose.

The equivalent mechanical safeguard the British used in our weapon of the period when the Americans had the above accident was to fill the centre of the bomb with thousands of ball bearings secured by a plug. To arm the bomb you took the plug out (or it fell out) and let the ball bearings fall out the bottom. Once out there was no way to get the ball bearings back in safely and there was the possibility that the slightest physical knock could cause the device to initiate.

There are some absolutely hair raising tales about British near accidents with early nuclear weapons out there if you look. Compared to the Americans we were running our bomb programme on a shoestring and couldn't afford the same safeguards. Some early British devices were inherently unsafe and would explode on contact with salt water even when supposedly safed. Naturally these weapons were supposed to be carried on aircraft carriers. There's a story that in the 60's an aircraft returning from a training mission was forced to jettison its bomb onto a golf course in the north of Scotland and the nuclear bomb did actually detonate. Luckily it didn't work properly and the explosion was only equivalent to a few tons of TNT giving the golf course a brand new glow in the dark sand bunker. Supposedly the impact site was only a few hundred yards from the sea and the bomb would have fully detonated if it had hit the salt water. True? I have no idea but there's got to be a book in there somewhere!

There was a period when British nuclear weapons were protected on airbases by a single RAF policeman armed with a wooden club (this was later upgraded to an unloaded pistol - the ammunition had to be carried in a separate pocket because guns are dangerous). The security device on the bomb itself to prevent it being armed was a shop bought bicycle lock - the keys for these were always being lost but it was soon discovered that they could be opened with a screwdriver or the handle of a teaspoon anyway.





I seen a documentary on Discovery about the USSR's nuclear defence systems malfunctioning during the cold war.
The system was saying that there were incoming Nuclear bombs and the guy who was controlling the release of USSR's weapons was fired as he did not release their bombs in retaliation even though it was a faulty warning system.

Scary stuff indeed.


There's also this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov

He was second in command of a soviet sub during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Americans had the sub cornered and were dropping 'practice' death charges on it. The sub was out of radio contact with home and the captain believed that the American depth charges meant that a war had started. He decided that this was sufficient justification to launch a nuclear torpedo at the American warship involved. In order to launch the torpedo it needed all three members of the command team to agree, two of them (including the captain) did, only Vasili disagreed and successfully argued against the weapon being fired.

If he hadn't how would the Americans have reacted to a soviet sub nuking one of their warships at that time? :bye:

[magpie1892]

I was nearly right :greengrin The release of nuclear weapons wasn't entirely at his disposal and it doesnt look like he was fired either :hilarious

Not sure if its my memory or if Discovery tweaked it for dramatic effect :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/shatter021099b.htm

http://gimundo.com/news/article/the-man-who-saved-the-world-by-doing-nothing/

He got a slight ticking off for failing the 'correct paperwork' but was pretty much lauded everywhere else, including in his homeland.