The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) closed on September 29, 1995. During its 23-year history, OTA provided Congressional members and committees with analyses of the scientific and technological issues that were increasingly relevant to public policy and legislative action. OTA occupied a unique role among the Congressional information agencies. Unlike the General Accounting Office, which is primarily concerned with evaluation of ongoing programs, and the Congressional Research Service, which provides rapid information on legislative topics, OTA provided a deeper, more comprehensive, and more technical level of analysis. Through eleven Congressional sessions, OTA became a key resource for Congressional members…
Author: John Greenewald
The 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident occurred at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base on August 29–30, 2007. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were reportedly mistakenly loaded on a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52H heavy bomber at Minot and transported to Barksdale. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for a…
Background A “dull sword” is an Air Force reporting term that marks reports of minor incidents involving nuclear weapons, components or systems, or which could impair their deployment. This could include actions involving vehicles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but with no nuclear weapons on board at the time of the accident. Declassified Documents DoD Instruction 7730.12, “Notification Procedures for Accidents and Significant Incidents Involving Nuclear Weapons, Reactors and Radioactive Materials” [7 Pages, 1.16mb] Dull Sword Incidents, 1981, 320th Bombardment Wing History [8 Pages, 308kb] Reporting Nuclear Safety Deficiencies (Dull Swords) on the F-16 Aircraft [101 Pages, 12.55mb]
Nuclear Weapons Surety is the materiel, personnel, and procedures that contribute to the safety, security, reliability, and control of nuclear weapons, thus assuring no nuclear accidents, incidents, unauthorized use, or degradation in performance. Below are the recently declassified reports to the President regarding Nuclear Weapons Surety. Nuclear Weapons Surety Report, Annual Report to the President, 1985 [36 Pages, 16mb] Nuclear Weapons Surety Report, Annual Report to the President, 1986 [42 Pages, 21mb] Nuclear Weapons Surety Report, Annual Report to the President, 1987 [46 Pages, 21mb] Nuclear Weapons Surety Report, Annual Report to the President, 1988 [72 Pages, 2.72mb] Nuclear Weapons Surety Report, Annual Report to the President, 1989 [46 Pages,…
Operation Blowdown was a military operation that took place on 18 July 1963. Conducted in northern Queensland, Australia by a joint Australian-American-British team, it was designed to simulate the effects of a nuclear weapon on tropical rainforest, using 50 tons of conventional explosive (TNT). A device containing 50 tons of TNT was detonated to partially simulate a ten kiloton air burst in the Iron Range jungle of the Cape York Peninsula. The explosives were sourced from obsolete artillery shells and placed in a tower 42 metres above ground level and 21 metres above the rain forest canopy. After the explosion,…