Copyright 2017 by Michael H. Maggelet.
“Arkansas nearly
wiped off the map in 1980 when a SOCKET fell down a nuclear missile silo and
punctured a fuel tank, sparking a fire.” By Ariel Zilber, UK Daily Mail (14 September 2016 online article).
The UK Daily Mail, like many other publications,
has unfortunately chosen to publish Eric Schlosser’s anti-nuclear diatribes and falsehoods without
verifying the facts.
Eric Schlosser, a self described “investigative
journalist” and anti-nuclear conspiracy theorist, has released a propaganda
film on the 1980 Titan II accident which occurred near Damascus, Arkansas.
For
starters, it should be noted that Schlosser never submitted a Freedom of
Information Act request for the nuclear weapons accident report, nor did he conduct “exhaustive
research” as he continually proclaims in interviews (he submitted a total of
two FOIA requests, one of which is nothing more than reference documents copied
word for word from a Rand safety study). Due to numerous inconsistencies in Schlosser's book and public statements, Mr. Maggelet FOIA'd all the logs going back seven years due to Schlosser's distortions of the historical facts surrounding nuclear weapons in general, and accidents and incidents. He simply took the easy route and contacted Mr. Maggelet asking permission to use information from our book "Broken Arrow, Volume II" a few weeks before his book was published.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the intentional distortions, disinformation,
and fabrications made by Schlosser and quoted in the Daily Mail online article.
1. Claim- “On September 18,
1980, technicians at Titan II missile silo in Damascus, Arkansas, were trying
to replace a socket on a missile.”
Facts- In actuality, two technicians were handling a heavy socket and breaker bar, in the process of servicing a valve on the upper stage of the Titan II.
2. Claim- “When the socket fell
down a 70-foot shaft, it punctured the missile's tank, causing a leakage of
chemicals.”
Facts- The eight pound
socket fell about 66 feet, punctured the first stage skin and propellant tank, and
caused leakage of Aerozine 50 (a 50/50 mix of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethyl-hydrazine).
3. Claim- “A fire ensued, but, by a stroke of luck, there was no explosion
that would have laid waste to much of the state.”
Facts- The explosion of liquid propellant occurred eight and a half hours after the socket
punctured the missile (there was no initial fire). The explosion of the Titan II certainly did not lay
waste to “much of state”, nor would its nuclear warhead have detonated in a
nuclear manner (due to numerous safety features and weapon design principles).
4. Claim- “Schlosser reveals that there were about 1,200 of these kinds of
accidents from 1950 to 1968.”
Facts- Schlosser's number of 1,200 includes over 1,150 minor reportable incidents that include crushed electrical cables, test set indications, dents on fins exceeding rejection criteria, and minor defects on inert training weapons. More serious incidents, such as "Bent Spears", are detailed in our book "Broken Arrow, Volume II". The fact that such small problems are reported illustrates
the care and attention paid to all aspects of the nuclear weapons program.
5. Claim- “The United States narrowly avoided a nuclear
disaster that threatened to obliterate the entire state of Arkansas, according
to a bombshell new book.”
Facts- Since an ‘accidental” nor "intentional" nuclear detonation of the W53 on site was not possible due to safety devices, even an
intentional 10 megaton detonation (by a Soviet ICBM) would not have obliterated the state
of Arkansas. "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" details weapons effects rather distinctly, not to mention historical test films showing the
effects of multi-megaton yield weapons (and observers and aircraft within 30 miles are not incinerated). According to several nuclear weapons effects computers (and asteroid impact calculators), it would take an asteroid or comet impact equivalent to approximately 2,250 megatons to "incinerate the state of Arkansas".
6. Claim- “Command and Control", a book written by renowned investigative
journalist Eric Schlosser, details how a maintenance accident in a missile silo
buried underneath farmland in Damascus, Arkansas, nearly caused a thermonuclear
explosion.”
Facts- Schlosser certainly isn’t
renowned in the nuclear weapons community due to his numerous lies, and the
accident, as previously mentioned, certainly did not nearly cause “a
thermonuclear explosion". An accidental nuclear detonation, due to one point design, safety devices, and design features, was not possible.
7. Claim- “Schlosser's book, which was made into a documentary directed by
Robert Kenner, is all the more shocking since it reveals that accidents of this
kind were much more commonplace than initially believed.”
Facts- Given the fact that Schlosser
is the son in law of Robert Redford, his connections to Leftist activist
groups and Robert Kenner aren’t surprising. The US Department of Defense has
released information on many (not all, for security reasons) Broken Arrows when
they occurred, and published lists in 1968, 1979, 1981, etc., and has aircraft
accident reports available for anyone willing to submit the paperwork. One is
not surprised by Schlosser’s “shocking” claims of 1,200 “nuclear
weapons accidents”.
8. Claim- “It was a sign of the compartmentalized secrecy at the time,'
Schlosser said. 'The weapons designers who knew there were safety problems
didn't know how the weapons were being handled in the field, and the guys who
were literally having their lunches sometimes sitting on nuclear weapons
smoking cigarettes had no idea there were any safety problems with these
weapons.'
Facts- The only compartmentalization involved the access to classified weapon
information, not incident and accident information. The weapons labs and Sandia
Corporation were notified of every incident and accident, as detailed in
message routing and their response to several early accidents (they also worked
with AFSWP to issue retrofit orders to replace obsolete or defective
components). As to Schlosser’s claim
that weapon designers “didn’t know how the weapons were being handled in the
field”, that’s a lie, since AEC custody representatives were on hand during
weapon uploads and were the custodians for nuclear capsules at military bases.
As for his statement that “guys were
literally having their lunches sometimes sitting on nuclear weapons smoking
cigarettes”, Schlosser again shows his complete ignorance of safety
rules and procedures which were ingrained into every nuclear weapons specialist,
aviation ordnanceman, load crew member, handler, missileman, torpedoman, and
ordnance specialist from day one.
9. Claim- 'The secrecy made everything more dangerous. The secrecy that was
supposed to keep us safe actually endangered us.' "
Facts- What secrecy? Classified
incident and accident reports were distributed worldwide to 945 organizations
to include the weapons labs, military services, nuclear capable units, not to mention R&D, safety,
and military contractors with a legitimate “need to know” (with a Secret
Restricted Data clearance). We find it rather comical, if not the height of
incompetence, for a retired employee of Sandia to proclaim that he never knew
about incident reports kept in a classified tech library only a few minutes
walk away.
About the author-
Michael
H. Maggelet is a retired USAF nuclear weapons team chief. As a USAF military
dependent, he lived in the UK near RAF Chicksands from 1964-1965. At the USAF nuclear weapons technical school
at Lowry AFB, Colorado in 1980, Mike
disassembled, tested, and assembled training weapons such as the W25/AIR-2A
Genie, W28 warhead, B28FI bomb, B43, B53, B57, B61, W69/AGM-69A Short Range
Attack Missile, W62/Mk 12 Reentry Vehicle, munitions handling equipment, and
clip-ins. During his career he worked on the SRAM, B43, B57, B61, and B83 in
numerous locations to include New Hampshire, New York, and West Germany.
"Broken Arrow, Volume II, A Disclosure of Significant US, Soviet, and British Nuclear Weapons Incidents and Accidents, 1945-2008" was submitted for a Pulitzer Prize in History in 2010.
For historical consultation and verification of facts for news outlets, prospective articles, etc., contact Mike at mhmaggelet "at" gmail.com
