US's most powerful nuclear bomb being dismantled
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.
The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.
As Brad points out from the article, one of the interesting thing about this news item is that the engineers associated with the project have retired or passed on. They've had to essentially re-invent the wheel to dismantle the bomb as so few of the original designers and engineers were still available. The bomb was introduced nearly 50 years ago; this represents the first time in my 40 years that we haven't had a "mega-nuke" in the arsenal.
The gut reaction is to say that this is a good thing; that it's heartening to see that we're pulling back from the brinkmanship of the Cold War that says we need to stockpile enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 10 times over. However, it's tempered by the knowledge that we face a much different enemy today than we did 50 years ago, or even 70 years ago; an enemy that is not stopped by country borders nor kept in check by mega weapons.
On the one hand, my kids might not grow up knowing "duck and cover"; on the other hand, they've always flown with the "free prostate exam with every flight" TSA... Hard to say which is worse, really. While duck-and-cover represented the very worst thing that could ever happen, it was a remote possibility at best, whereas the TSA gropefest has become so commonplace that it's accepted as the cost of doing business.
Well, at least we'll have to work a lot harder to blow up the earth...
That is all.
10 comments:
I can think of easier, more cost effective ways of disposing of this thing.
Plenty of ocean out there, you know ;)
With all due respect, Robb, are you nuts? The smaller bombs we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought us Godzilla and Mothra; can you imagine the horrors that could be unleashed with the larger nukes???
And where do you think modern zombies came from?
Remember, never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm. It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes. The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky.
I thought the approved method for disposing of stale ammo was to take it to the range and shoot it. You only dismantle ammo if you're going to use its components to load a new... oohhhh, I get it!
I wonder how many Predator Hellfire missiles you can make from one B53.
This is Bull Shit! The Ruskies are faking this whole non-commie touchy feely we're on your team crap!
And New Jovian Thunderbolt go read why I think you're wrong about shotguns.
While duck-and-cover represented the very worst thing that could ever happen, it was a remote possibility at best, whereas the TSA gropefest has become so commonplace that it's accepted as the cost of doing business.
The interesting thing is that, while we're busy disassembling our nuclear arsenal, our enemies are just as busily building their own.
Our not having nukes just means our enemies kids don't have to worry about "duck and cover" doesn't mean we don't have to worry about it.
And when the deterrent effect of "mutually assured destruction" is no longer assured, what, exactly, is going to prevent enemies that inhabit the lunatic fringe from testing the theory?
Disarming doesn't make us safer...quite the opposite.
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.
-George Washington
Remember, that is ONLY the big boy that is being disassembled... Polaris is still on patrol... And the Russians (can't call em Soviet anymore) are building a NEW SSBN right now, along with the Chinese...
DOH, so should have read ALL the comments... Sailor Curt is dead on the $$ as usual...
Personally, I would dis-assemble it, about 1,500' ft. altitude, directly above Mecca.
Tehran comes to mind also, but there's a helluva lot of freedom-yearning, mullah-hating people there, who once lived in a relatively secular world, and want to it to return.
Mecca by default.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
We still have plenty of fusion-boomers to go around. The ICBMs are accurate enough that a 450KT yield is plenty. The W80 warheads in our cruise missiles are even smaller.
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