On 21 January 1968, an aircraft accident involving a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 bomber occurred near Thule Air Base in the Danish territory of Greenland. The aircraft was carrying four hydrogen bombs on a Cold War”Chrome Dome” alert mission over Baffin Bay when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft before they could carry out an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto sea ice in North Star Bay, Greenland, causing the conventional explosives aboard to detonate and the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in radioactive contamination.

The United States and Denmark launched an intensive clean-up and recovery operation, but the secondary stage of one of the nuclear weapons could not be accounted for after the operation completed. USAF Strategic Air Command “Chrome Dome” operations were discontinued immediately after the accident, which highlighted the safety and political risks of the missions. Safety procedures were reviewed and more stable explosives were developed for use in nuclear weapons. (Description of event courtesy of Wikipedia)

Declassified Documents

Department of the Air Force

•  USAF FOIA Response, April 25, 2018 [2 Pages, 0.3MB]
  • “Thule Nuclear Weapons Accident DOSE Evaluation Report” dated April 2001 [48 Pages, 0.6MB]
  • PROJECT CRESTED ICE – USAF B-52 Accident at Thule, Greenland, 21 January 1968 [214 Pages, 5.5MB]
  • USAF Nuclear Safety, Volume 65 (Part 2) Special Edition – Jan/Feb/March 1970, No.1 [100 Pages, 16.6MB]
  • Thule Photographs, 72dpi Thumbnails[11 Pages, 3.0MB]
  • Search for Personal Information – Thule Nuclear Weapons Accident, November 8, 2017 [6 Pages, 3.0MB]
  • USAF FOIA Reading Room Printout Regarding Palomares, Spain and Thule Air Base Nuclear Accidents [2 Pages, 0.5MB]
  • Response to Freedom of Information Act for Records Related to Project Crested Ice, 22 November 2017 [12 Pages, 0.7MB]

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

 CIA Documents on the 1968 B-52 Crash [247 Pages, 47MB]

National Security Agency (NSA)

 NSA Documents on the 1968 B-52 Crash [21 Pages, 6.2MB]

 Full FOIA Case File for the above [40 Pages, 15MB]

The post 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 Crash with 4 Hydrogen Bombs On Board first appeared on The Black Vault.

While sifting through thousands of different pages of documents, I found references to some previously, never-before-released (that I saw) documents about nuclear accidents.

I have always been fascinated by the topic, ever since I saw the 1996 film Broken Arrow.  Yes, I know, a bit cheesy, but I was 15 when it came out – and I was just about to start The Black Vault. I was fascinated to learn, that Broken Arrow was a real term, and in fact, nuclear accidents have plagued American history. So,  when I saw these documents existed, I had to get them!

It took quite a few years – and my FOIA requests bounced around from a few offices. I had to refile to the NNSA in 2015, and in September of 2016, finally received them, declassified.

Declassified Documents

 FOIA Response Letter, Dated September 15, 2016 [3 Pages, 1.1MB]

 History of Accidents Involving Nuclear Materials, May 2, 1971 [5 Pages, 1.8MB]

 Summary of Air Force Nuclear Accidents, February 6, 1968 [4 Pages, 2.2MB]

 History of Accidents Involving Nuclear Materials, May 25, 1966 [8 Pages, 19.9MB]

The post Summaries of Nuclear Weapon and Material Accidents – Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration first appeared on The Black Vault.

A “broken arrow” is an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons or nuclear components but which does not create the risk of nuclear war, known as a Broken Arrow in United States military terminology.

Below are documents obtained under the FOIA regarding Broken Arrow incidents.

Declassified Documents

 DoD Instruction 7730.12, “Notification Procedures for Accidents and Significant Incidents Involving Nuclear Weapons, Reactors and Radioactive Materials” [7 Pages, 1.16mb]

 Summary of Navy Nuclear Weapon Accidents (1975, 1976, and 1977 Supplement) [2 Pages, 0.2MB] – This is a bizarre story, and one of the most frustrating situations since I started The Black Vault.  I requested this document in 2009. I fought for a fee waiver, and was GRANTED that fee waiver, which means – I convinced them to waive all fees and declassify this document to me.  It took until March of 2015, for them to tell me AFTER they GRANTED my fee waiver, and they would review the document for declassification; they shredded it.  It’s gone from history, for good.

B-58 Accident, 1964

Remedial Action and Final Radiological Status, 1964 B-58 Accident Site [92 Pages]

General Reports

 ARGX-87 Accident Response Group Exercise, 1987: A Broken Arrow mini exercise [20 Pages, 2.27mb]

 Safety Study – Prime Nuclear Airlift Force (PNAF) Missions Involving the Use of C-130 and C-141 Aircraft [36 Pages, 1.9mb]

 Wartime Missile Strike Intelligence: An Indirect Bomb Damage Assessment System, July 1965 [75 Pages, 5MB]

The post Broken Arrow Incidents first appeared on The Black Vault.