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The day we lost the H-bomb : Cold War, hot nukes, and the worst nuclear weapons disaster in history
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The day we lost the H-bomb : Cold War, hot nukes, and the worst nuclear weapons disaster in history

Author: Barbara Moran
Publisher: New York : Presidio Press/Ballantine Books, ©2009.
Edition/Format:   Book : English : 1st edView all editions and formats
Summary:
From the Publisher: In The Day We Lost the H-Bomb, science writer Barbara Moran marshals a wealth of new information and recently declassified material to give the definitive account of the Cold War's biggest nuclear weapons disaster. On January 17, 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber exploded over the sleepy Spanish farming village of Palomares during a routine airborne refueling. The explosion killed seven airmen  Read more...
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Details

Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Barbara Moran
ISBN: 9780891419044 0891419047
OCLC Number: 251203972
Description: xi, 321 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., map ; 25 cm.
Contents: Prologue --
January --
1: Mighty SAC --
2: Accident --
3: First twenty-four hours --
4: Ambassador --
5: Parachutes --
6: Call in the navy --
February --
7: Villa Jarapa --
8: Alvin and the deep, dark sea --
9: Fisherman's clue --
10: Guest charts a course --
11: Fisherman's catch --
12: Radioactividad --
March --
13: Spin control --
14: Photograph --
15: POODL versus the H-bomb --
April --
16: Hooked --
Epilogue --
Acknowledgments --
Bibliography --
Notes --
Index.
Responsibility: Barbara Moran.

Abstract:

From the Publisher: In The Day We Lost the H-Bomb, science writer Barbara Moran marshals a wealth of new information and recently declassified material to give the definitive account of the Cold War's biggest nuclear weapons disaster. On January 17, 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber exploded over the sleepy Spanish farming village of Palomares during a routine airborne refueling. The explosion killed seven airmen and scattered the bomber's payload-four unarmed thermonuclear bombs-across miles of coastline. Three of the rogue H-bombs were recovered quickly. Tracking down the fourth required the largest search-and-salvage operation in U.S. military history. Moran traces the roots of the Palomares incident, giving a brief yet in-depth history of the Strategic Air Command and its eccentric, larger-than-life commander, General Curtis LeMay, whose massive deterrence strategy kept armed U.S. bombers aloft at all times. Back on the ground, Moran recounts the myriad social and environmental effects of an accident that spread radioactive debris over hundreds of acres of Spanish farmland, alarmed America's strategic allies, and damaged Spanish-American diplomatic relations. As the American military floundered in its attempt to keep the story secret, the events in Spain sometimes took on farcical overtones. Constant global media hype was fueled by the hit James Bond movie Thunderball, with its plot about an atomic weapon lost at sea. In addition, there were the unwanted attentions of a rusty-hulled Soviet surveillance ship and even awkward public relations stunts, complete with American diplomats in swim trunks.

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