Atomic Gaffes: NYT Book Review, ‘Command and Control’

015MEAD-blog427.jpg

New York Times Book Review: Eric Schlosser’s ‘Command and Control’

A little over 50 years ago a South Carolina doctor (and the grandfather of this reviewer) treated a family for injuries sustained when a sudden, inexplicable explosion tore through their backyard. The injuries were not serious, and after spending the night at the doctor’s house they returned home to discover that the object in the 50-foot crater left behind their house was an atomic bomb that had fallen from a passing Air Force plane. The bomb had not been “armed” with its nuclear core; the blast came from the explosives intended to trigger a chain reaction. The crater can still be seen today.

That incident, which led to an anti-­nuclear movement in Britain, where the plane was bound, is one of many stories Eric Schlosser, the author of “Fast Food Nation,” tells in “Command and Control.” During the cold war, nuclear bombs fell out of the sky, burned up in plane ­crashes and were lost at sea. In the incident Schlosser describes in greatest detail, “the Damascus accident” of Sept. 18, 1980, the warhead from a Titan II missile was ejected after a series of mishaps that began when a repairman dropped a socket wrench and pierced a fuel tank. Tactical nuclear weapons scattered across Europe had minimal security; misplaced tools and failed repairs triggered serious accidents; inadequate safety procedures and poor oversight led to dozens of close brushes with nuclear explosions. People have died in these accidents, sometimes as a result of their own carelessness or bad luck, but often while doing their best to protect the rest of us from an accidental nuclear blast.

Read the rest here.

#NukeNews

a pledge to our children's children's...

Rocky Flats

Nuclear Guardianship

  • Home

  • Take Action

  • About

  • Events

  • News

  • Resources

  • Contact

  • More

    a pledge to our childrens' childrens'...

    Donate

    © 2015 by Rocky Flats Nuclear Guardianship  | Site Designed by Arielle Elak

    Photography by Janice Schlickman

     © 2015 Rocky Flats Nuclear Guardianship

    Site Designed by Arielle Elak

     

    • Resources

      • Technical Resources

      • Diagrams Maps and Pictures

        • Diagrams and Maps

        • Pictures

        • Definitions

      • Global Nuclear Matters

      • ​Artwork

      • Citizen's Guide to Rocky Flats

      • Papers by LeRoy Moore PhD

      • Books

      • A Single Garment of Destiny

    Home

    Take Action

    How You Can Help

    Goals

    Organizations

    Events

    Calendar

    News

    About

    U.S. Government Agencies

    History

    Contact

    • Video Archives

      • Rocky Flats: Overcoming a Toxic Past

      • ​Arvada Center

      • Slideshow by Robert Del Tredici

      • University of California Irvine

      • No Water to Waste

      • Secrets of a Bomb Factory

      • Archive Footage of Final A-bomb Preparations

     

     

    RMPJC Office  

    3970 Broadway Suite B5

    Boulder, CO 80304

    (303) 444-6981

    Not able to open files?

    Try updating your browser with the

    latest PDF plugin:

    Donate