Barbara Moran: The Day We Lost the H-Bomb

140 A Palomares schoolteacher:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 47.

140 Searchers were ordered to mark:Ibid., p. 99 .

140 General Wilson asked the Sandia engineers:Information on the Sandia drop tests (“Operation Sunday”) comes from ibid., pp. 102–105; author’s interview with William Caudle, January 22, 2004; and Memo, Robert L. McNeill to William N. Caudle, “Field Observation Operation Sunday,” February 15, 1966 (NNSA).

141 “severely restricted”:Memo, McNeill to Caudle, “Field Observation,” p. 5.

141 Maydew’s airburst theory:SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 43–44.

141 Only Larry Messinger showed a positive result:Ibid., p. 44.

141 The Spanish vesselJuan de la Cosa: Ibid., p. 47.

141 Joe Ramirez also found a pharmacist:Joe Ramirez interview, January 27, 2007.

141 “This could only be considered as normal”:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 93.

CHAPTER 12: RADIOACTIVIDAD

143 Colonel White, the man in charge:Flora Lewis interview with Alton “Bud” White, undated (AFHRA), and Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares , pp. 147–149.

143 Dr. Wright Langham, a plutonium expert:The background on Langham is from Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares , pp. 145–147, and Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , pp. 106–111.

144 Some of the urine samples:The Bombs of Palomares , pp. 153–154; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , pp. 109–111; SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 146–148.

144 Langham next tackled crop and animal worries:SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 155–156.

144 The tests, called Operation Roller Coaster:J. Newell Stannard, Radioactivity and Health, A History . Vol. 2: Environmental Aspects (Richland, Wash.: Pacific Northwest Laboratory, 1988), pp. 1193–1197, 1203–1207.

144 the major plutonium hazard had vanished:Paraphrased from Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , p. 115.

144 He had used himself:Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , p. 109.

144 “maximum permissible body burden”:Ibid., p. 110.

145 Current limits:E-mail, Andy Karam to author, December 10, 2007.

145 The maximum permissible air concentration:Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , p.110.

145 an amount akin to a grain of salt:E-mail, Andy Karam to author, December 10, 2007.

145 has a half-life of 24,360 years:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 137.

145 Langham calculated how much soil:The soil remediation plan is discussed in Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs , pp. 115–120; Flora Lewis interview with Alton “Bud” White, undated (AFHRA); SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 160, 165–167, 171–173; and Place et al., Palomares Summary Report (Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.: Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, Technology and Analysis Directorate, January 15, 1975), pp. 64–65. Unfortunately, official records list the contamination levels in counts per minute (CPM), a measurement that varies depending on the sensitivity of the instrument.

146 there had been at least twenty-eight nuclear accidents:“Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving U.S. Nuclear Weapons 1950–1980,” undated (NNSA, FOIA). Accident summaries are paraphrased from this document.

147 a public debate:For a historical discussion of the nuclear weapons safety issue, see Joel Larus, Nuclear Weapons Safety and the Common Defense (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1967).

147 Even President Kennedy grew worried:Larus, Nuclear Weapons Safety , pp. 32–33.

147 “When Air Force experts rushed”:Quoted in ibid., pp. 93–94.

148 Combat Crew , reflected this zeal:Examples come from the author’s reading of Combat Crew .

148 18,340 KC-135 tankers:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 288.

148 a cleanup plan called “Moist Mop”:Ibid., pp. 138–139.

149 Any men plowing, scraping:Ibid., pp. 156–157.

149 Robert Finkel, who spent:Robert Finkel interview, April 4, 2007.

149 The Navy regularly sampled the water:Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006; Commander Task Group 65.3, memo to Commander Task Force 65, “Report of Inshore Search,” March 13, 1966, p. 9.

149 Gaylord White, one of the divers:Gaylord White interview, March 3, 2007.

149 Henry Engelhardt, the commander:Author’s interview with Henry “Bud” Engelhardt, May 17, 2006. Also see SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 163 and 165.

150 When Bud White’s team first mapped:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 141.

150 The Air Force maintains:Palomares Nuclear Weapons Accident: Revised Dose Evaluation Report , U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Medical Service, April 2001 (FOIA). This report states that some doses measured “unreasonably high” and suggests that more study would be needed to reconcile the data. A press release accompanying this report said that exposures were “not significant.”

150 The vegetation problem:Flora Lewis, interview with Alton “Bud” White, undated (AFHRA); SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 170, 174.

151 This left the question:The soil problem is discussed in Flora Lewis,interview with Alton “Bud” White, undated (AFHRA); author’s interview with Jack Howard, April 3, 2007; SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 179–186.

151 Spanish and American officials:The disposal of the aircraft wreckage is discussed in SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 134–136; Aircraft Salvops Med , Interim Report, pp. C6–C7.

151 “lingering recriminations”:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 134.

152 To prepare the dirt:Ibid., p. 173.

152 with lawyers interviewing about twenty people:Ibid., p. 391.

152 The claims work was as complicated:The background on claims comes from Joe Ramirez interviews, January 27, 2007, and April 27, 2007; and SAC Historical Study #109 , chapter 7.

152 when lawyers consulted the owners’ registry:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 397.

152 Four claimants:Ibid., p. 389, footnote.

155 Ambassador Duke stood:The description of Duke’s solo swim and the quotes are from “US Envoy Swims in Mediterranean,” CBS News, March 9, 1966.

156 the U.S. government had finally admitted:SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 327–329; the text of the DOD press release is on p. 328. See also John W. Finney, “U.S. Concedes Loss of H-Bomb in Spain,” The New York Times , March 3, 1966, p. 1.

156 For weeks, the U.S. and Spanish governments:Arguments over the release of information are discussed in SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 324–326, and Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares , pp. 202–204.

157 various government agencies began stumbling:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 329.

157 “The news is now official”:“The Missing H-Bomb,” The Boston Globe , March 4, 1966, p. 14.