The Day We Lost the H-Bomb
Page 35
202 Guest and his staff gathered: Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006.
202 “tourists”: Ibid.
202 there’d be nothing left: Author’s interview with Robert Singleton, November 27, 2006.
202 At 5:50 a.m., the Petrel began to raise: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 7, 1966.
202 Guest worried most: “William S. Guest Press Conference,” April 8, 1966.
202 one scientist paced: Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006.
202 looked sick to his stomach: Ibid.
202 “I’d prefer combat”: “William S. Guest Press Conference,” April 8, 1966.
202 the weapon came up so smoothly: Ibid.
202 Two of Red Moody’s divers: Ibid.; Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006; Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 95.
202 Boatswain mates rigged the lines: Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” pp. 51–52; author’s interview with Red Moody, November 7, 2006.
202 Immediately, the EOD team: Dewitt H. Moody, memo to Commander, Naval Ordnance Systems Command, “Report of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operation (OPNAV REPORT 3571-1),” May 10, 1966 (EOD U2, Post 46, Command Files, Operational Archives, Secret, NHC), p. 2.
202 It was 8:46 a.m.: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 7, 1966. The entry reads, “Weapon on deck with parachute.”
203 The rough ride: The condition of weapon number four comes from Moody, memo to Commander, “Report of Explosive Ordnance Disposal,” May 10, 1966, p. 4. The author also viewed photographs of the recovered weapon at Operational Archives, NHC. The weapon casings of bombs number one and four are now housed at the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
203 The EOD team began to render: Ibid. and S. V. Asselin, “Notes on the EOD Render Safe Procedure of Weapon #4 (W28 #45345) Near Palomares Spain March 15, 1966” (Document no. SAC200118480000, Confidential, NNSA, FOIA). See also author’s interviews with Oliver Andersen, January 22, 2007, and Red Moody, November 7, 2006, and Moody, e-mails to author, September 23 and 28, 2008. Funston’s rig is called, appropriately, a Spanish windlass.
203 there were no shouts: Author’s interviews with Oliver Andersen, January 22, 2007, and Larry Brady, January 31, 2007.
203 In the wardroom, the staff applauded: Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006.
203 “Thank God we finally did it”: Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 96.
203 Someone cut up the parachute: Author’s interviews with Oliver Andersen, January 22, 2007, and Red Moody, November 7, 2006.
203 As Brad Mooney walked: Brad Mooney interview, March 30, 2007.
204 approximately a hundred newsmen: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 344–345.
204 “under the Mediterranean sun”: “H-Bomb Recovered,” CBS News, April 8, 1966.
204 The embassy had drafted: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 343–344.
205 held a press conference: “William S. Guest Press Conference,” April 8, 1966.
205 “a nightmare of the nuclear age”: Szulc, Bombs of Palomares, p. 253.
206 “made millions of people aware”: Joel Larus, Nuclear Weapons Safety and the Common Defense (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1967), p. vii.
EPILOGUE
207 After the press and VIPs left: Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, July 15, 1966, p. C16; Memo, Moody to Commander, “Report of Explosive Ordnance Disposal,” May 10, 1966 (NHC), pp. 3–4; SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 60–61.
207 General Wilson had proposed: SAC Historical Study #109, p. 61.
207 the Navy loaded it: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 8, 1966.
207 The Air Force sent bomb number four: S. V. Asselin, memo to S. A. Moore, “Trip to Pantex, April 27 and 28, 1966,” undated (Document no. SAC200118240000, Confidential, NNSA, FOIA).
207 The engineers learned some lessons: Randall Maydew, oral history, conducted by Necah Furman, December 1991, p. 12.
208 The USNS Boyce arrived: SAC Historical Study #109, p. 188; Emilio Iranzo interview, February 16, 2007.
208 The other two barrels: SAC Historical Study #109, p. 189.
208 He said he planned: Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, p. 236.
208 the Navy billed the Air Force: SAC Historical Study #109, p. 111.
208 $10,230,744, or $126,305 per day: W. M. Place et al., Palomares Summary Report (Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.: Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, Technology and Analysis Directorate, January 15, 1975), p. 141. Pp. 142–144 contain a detailed cost breakdown.
208 On April 7, 1967, exactly one year: George Martin, e-mail to author, September 24, 2008.
208 Tony Richardson composed a poem: Tony Richardson interview, October 31, 2007.
208 replacing topsoil, repairing ditches: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 189–190.
209 The legal staff drew up: Ibid.
209 By the end of March: Ibid., p. 86.
209 On March 20: Ibid., p. 302.
209 but a skeleton crew of lawyers: Joe Ramirez interview, April 27, 2007.
209 By September 26: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 391, 492.
209 For his help: Place et al., Palomares Summary Report, p. 176.
209 “As testimony and admiration”: Ibid.
209 In June, he presented his own claim: Details on the Orts claim can be found in Place et al., Palomares Summary Report, pp. 176–178.
209 Simó guessed he had saved the military: “Palomares Revisited re: Atom Bomb,” CBS News, December 20, 1966.
210 In the spring and summer of 1966: The background of the diplomatic climate leading up to the base negotiations can be found in James E. Miller, ed., Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, vol. 12, Western Europe (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001), and Airgram, Embassy in Madrid to Department of State, “U.S. Policy Assessment,” May 7, 1966 (LBJ).
210 It refused: As of December 1966, the nuclear overflights were still under discussion. See Cable, Embassy in Madrid to SECSTATE, December 10, 1966, #9187 (LBJ).
210 It wanted the United States: Cable, Department of State to Embassy in Madrid, May 6, 1966 (NARA).
210 In May, The New York Times reported: Benjamin Welles, “Spain Offers 3 Proposals on Gibraltar,” The New York Times, May 27, 1966, p. 19.
210 The base negotiations got under way: Memorandum of Conversation, November 13, 1967, “Base Negotiations” (NARA). This document is the earliest record found by the author that lists American and Spanish officials meeting for the express purpose of discussing the bases.
210 He had been lobbying hard: Memorandum for the Files, December 5, 1967, “Spanish Base Negotiations and Palomares” (NARA).
210 “The accident brought home”: Ibid.
210 On January 6, 1968, Duke was dining: The story of Duke’s return to Washington is from Angier Biddle Duke, Living History interview, October 24, 1990, pp. 20–21, and author’s interview with Robin Duke, June 7, 2007.
211 Today, the once barren coast: The description of modern Palomares comes from the author’s visit to the area, February 24–28, 2007.
212 Manolo says the town: Manolo and Dolores González interview, February 24, 2007.
212 though it refuses to say: On occasion, the U.S. government has released information about funding for a specific part of Project Indalo. For instance, a 1973 document obtained by the author states that the United States had provided approximately $250,000 in technical equipment and $25,000 a year in operating funds. (See C. R. Richmond, “Remarks on Palomares — Seven Years Later,” March 9, 1973 [NNSA, FOIA].) However, the full cost of the project has never been disclosed. The author made numerous requests for interviews with Mohandas Bhat, the DOE project officer for Palomares, and CIEMAT representatives, all of which were refused.
212 It has also tested chickens: Emilio Iranzo interview, February 16, 2007.
212 Every year, about 150 residents: The testing numbers come from the DOE Web site on Project Indalo: www.hss.energy.gov/HealthSafe
ty/IIPP/hservices/ps_msurv.html.
212 these tests show that about 5 percent: This statistic also comes from the Project Indalo Web site (see previous reference). However, the information on plutonium ingestion was removed from the Web site when it was updated. The author has a printout of the earlier Web page in her files.
212 This is proven, they say: Ibid. and Emilio Iranzo interview, February 16, 2007.
212 Villagers who visit Madrid: Operación Flecha Rota: Accidente nucleár de Palomares (Almería), directed by José Herrera, 2007.
213 Only one small study: Pedro Martínez Pinilla et al., “Evolución de la mortalidad en Palomares antes y después del accidente nuclear de 1966,” El Médico 16, no. 1 (1987). An electronic copy of this article was given to the author by José Herrera Plaza, a documentary filmmaker in Spain, along with an English translation done for Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Herrera downloaded hundreds of Indalo documents from the DOE Web site to his home in Spain, which he generously shared with the author. The author, despite numerous attempts, was never able to download the same documents from the DOE Web site to her home in the United States.
213 the accident continues to haunt: See, e.g., Paul Geitner, “Spanish Town Struggles to Forget Its Moment on the Brink of a Nuclear Cataclysm,” The New York Times, September 12, 2008.
213 a large irrigation pool: Emilio Iranzo interview, February 16, 2007; and E. Iranzo et al., “Air Concentrations of 239Pu and 240Pu and Potential Radiation Doses to Persons Living near Pu-Contaminated Areas in Palomares, Spain,” Health Physics, April 1987, p. 460.
213 CIEMAT purchased about twenty-three acres: www.hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/IIPP/hservices/ps_msurv.html.
213 It forbade farmers: Manolo and Dolores González interview, February 24, 2007.
213 “Now they put a fence”: Ibid.
213 Between November 21, 2006: Rafael Méndez, “Detectada contaminación en Palomares fuera de las zonas expropiadas y valladas,” El País, July 1, 2007.
213 In April 2008, CIEMAT announced: Rafael Méndez, “España halla las zanjas radiactivas que EEUU ocultó en Palomares,” El País, April 4, 2008.
213 “small radioactive metal objects”: Ibid.
213 Though the U.S. and Spanish: See, e.g., Memo, Barrett Fountos to Tom Bell et al., “Trip Report to Spain with Accomplishments Related to Palomares Program Review,” September 23, 1998 (author’s collection). In this memo, provided to the author by José Herrera Plaza, Emilio Iranzo is noted to have said, “Important to recognize that Pu was left at the site. There were not enough drums to take all the Pu away.” Chet Richmond, an American scientist, added, “There were more drums brought in than were taken away…. Still need to clarify location of pits.” Herrera has long suspected that radioactive material was secretly buried in Spain, an assertion that seems to be supported by this memo and the recent discoveries in Palomares.
213 they widened the “contaminated” zone: Méndez, “Detectada contaminación en Palomares,” July 1, 2007. The zone was widened from 90,000 to 300,000 square meters, converted into square yards by the author.
214 Manolo is not worried: Manolo and Dolores González interview, February 24, 2007.
214 “Minisubs”: James V. Healion, “Boom on 2-Man Subs Seen,” The Washington Post, June 25, 1967.
214 In 1967 and 1968, Alvin dove: Alvin history is from WHOI Web site: www.whoi.edu/page.do? pid=10737.
214 By late 1968, it had completed 307: William O. Rainnie and William I. Milwee, “How We Raised the Alvin from 5000 Feet,” Popular Mechanics, January 1970, p. 93.
214 Aluminaut, meanwhile, took scientists: Author’s interview with George Tyler, September 26, 2006.
214 a freak accident: The description of Alvin’s sinking comes from Department of the Navy, Naval Ship Systems Command, Recovery of Deep Research Vehicle Alvin (Washington, D.C.: Naval Ship Systems Command, December 1969); Rainnie and Milwee, “How We Raised the Alvin”; and Kaharl, Water Baby, pp. 115–119.
215 was estimated to weigh about 8,800: Department of the Navy, Naval Ship Systems Command, Recovery of Deep Research Vehicle Alvin, p. 6.
215 “Leave that damn toy”: Kaharl, Water Baby, p. 122.
215 Salvage experts agreed: The description of Alvin’s recovery comes from Department of the Navy, Naval Ship Systems Command, Recovery of Deep Research Vehicle Alvin; Eugene B. Mitchell and William I. Milwee, “Recovery of Alvin—A Practical Ocean Engineering Operation,” Naval Engineers Journal, December 1969, pp. 13–22; Rainnie and Milwee, “How We Raised the Alvin”; and Kaharl, Water Baby, pp. 121–124.
215 The assignment was a coup: George Tyler interview, September 26, 2006.
215 On August 27, 1969, Aluminaut submerged: Department of the Navy, Naval Ship Systems Command, Recovery of Deep Research Vehicle Alvin, p. 28.
215 Bob Canary, the Aluminaut pilot: The “wet noodle” quote is from Kaharl, Water Baby, p. 123.
216 He wanted to grab the controls: Ibid.
216 an account flatly denied: George Tyler interview, September 26, 2006. Tyler describes this story as “bullshit.”
216 was in remarkably good condition: Mitchell and Milwee, “Recovery of Alvin,” pp. 21–22.
Interestingly, a bologna sandwich salvaged from the sub showed no deterioration from bacteria. This accidental discovery that near-freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen aided preservation opened up new areas of scientific research. (See WHOI Web site, www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10737.) 216 Scientists and engineers flushed: Kaharl, Water Baby, pp. 126–127.
216 government funding for deep-sea exploration: Ibid., pp. 127–128; “The Aluminaut Story,” March 6, 1986, p. 10.
216 accepting projects that embarrassed: George Tyler interview, September 26, 2006.
216 in 1971, Reynolds canceled: “The Aluminaut Story,” March 6, 1986, p. 10; Richard Pothier, “Star of Deep for Six Years, She’s to Be a Sub on Bench,” The Miami Herald, undated. The records are not entirely clear, but it appears that the sub was semiretired in 1970 and mothballed in 1971.
216 The sub is probably best known: The Alvin history is from WHOI Web site: www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10737.
216 All that remains of the original: Author’s visit to Alvin and interviews with Bob Brown and Bruce Strickrott, July 2, 2007.
216 The sub will retire by 2015: William J. Broad, “New Sphere in Exploring the Abyss,” The New York Times, August 26, 2008, p. D1.
216 On January 21, 1968: The details of the Thule accident come from Scott D. Sagan, The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents and Nuclear Weapons (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Studies in International History and Politics, 1993), pp. 156–157; “Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving U.S. Nuclear Weapons 1950–1980,” undated (NNSA, FOIA); Department of the Air Force, USAF Nuclear Safety, Special Edition: Project Crested Ice, 65 (part 2), no. 1, Jan — Feb — Mar 1970. In November 2008, the BBC revealed that the United States had secretly left nuclear components buried in the ice. See Gordon Corera, “Mystery of Lost U.S. Nuclear Bomb,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7720049.stm, posted November 10, 2008.
217 McNamara had proposed canceling: Sagan, Limits of Safety, pp. 178–179.
217 He ordered SAC to stop: “U.S. Bars H-Bombs in Airborne Alert,” The New York Times, February 29, 1968, p. 1; Sagan, Limits of Safety, pp. 193–196.
217 who were tired of cleaning up: Sagan, Limits of Safety, p. 196. Sagan includes this relevant footnote: “Civilian authorities grew increasingly exasperated with the Strategic Air Command after these accidents. For example, in one press report, an unidentified civilian official recalls that Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke found it necessary to go for a swim in the ocean at Palomares to assure the Spaniards that there was no danger and says, ‘Next time we ought to make the whole SAC command go swimming.’”
218 SAC veterans were shocked: Author’s interviews with SAC veterans, August 23 and 25, 2005.
218 In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin: Andrew E. Kramer, “Recalling Cold War, R
ussia Resumes Long-Range Sorties,” The New York Times, August 18, 2007.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BARBARA MORAN is an award winning science journalist whose work has appeared in New Scientist, Invention &Technology, Technology Review, and The Boston Globe. Her television documentary credits include the PBS series Frontline, The American Experience, and NOVA, as well as the History and Discovery Channels. Research for this book began when she was a Knight Fellow at MIT. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Boston University’s Center for Science and Medical Journalism, she lives in Boston with her husband and son.
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