Eric Schlosser - Command and Control

SAC system. See Checklists; Standardization; Two-man policy

safety principles (1970) established, 330–32

safety versus reliability argument against, 173–74, 264, 313–14

Sandia program for, 325–31

and supersafe bomb, 331

weak link/strong link safety, 331–32, 372, 377, 449–50, 455–56, 468

Accident Response Group, Titan II accident, 425–27, 432

Accident risks

accidental detonation odds, 325–26

AEC inquiry (1957), 166–70

AFSWP acceptable probabilities, 171–72

and armed weapons, 247–48, 261

common-mode failures, 464

and communication issues, 154, 448

of computer-controlled launch, 450–51

and computer hacking, 475

and dangerous systems, 460–61, 463–64

Drell Panel on Nuclear Weapons Safety, 456

and drug/alcohol use by military, 349–51

of full-scale detonation, 99–100, 163–64, 168, 173, 181, 191, 198, 265, 456

Genie investigation, 163–66

grading of weapons (1991), 456

human error, 25–26, 171, 191, 194, 196, 261, 367–77, 430, 450, 460

and Jupiter missiles, 196–97, 258–60, 290, 329, 465

of launch complex breakin, 230–31

and lightning strike, 41, 43, 222, 328, 329, 376, 436, 474

and maintenance, 104, 160, 436

and Mark 28 bomb, 196–99, 262, 334, 372, 374–77, 384, 440, 464

and Minuteman, 299–301, 311–12, 371, 473–75

most threatening weapons (1977), 376

and NATO nuclear weapons, 258–65, 303, 373, 462

normal accident theory of, 461–63

one-point safety, 163–64, 172, 197–98, 322–23

and plutonium spread, 164, 166, 170, 262, 332, 456, 464, 471

and psychological disorders, 192–94, 359–60

RAND reports on, 121–22, 190–96, 264–65

and recycled missiles, 32–33, 103–4

and sabotage, 191–92, 194–97, 260, 303, 355

and SRAMs, 450, 453–55

Titanic Effect, 313

and Titan II. See Titan II

and training deficiencies, 5, 23, 89, 160, 261, 338, 366–67

and Trident submarine weapons, 471–72

and U-2 flights, 462–63

USAF safety problems (2003– ), 472–74

warning system flaws, 253–55, 286–87, 290, 365–68

Accidents

and aerial refueling, 314–16

on aircraft carriers, 312

and aircraft malfunction, 167–70, 184–85, 245–49, 262, 307–8, 310–11, 380–85

bomb falls from aircraft, 167–68, 185–88, 191, 246, 308, 316–19, 423

and control boxes, 173, 246, 310–11, 440–41

detonation of bombs, 169–70, 186–87, 322–24

and loading/unloading/movement of weapons, 168, 185

at Los Alamos facility, 94–95

maintenance-related, 56, 160, 309–10, 338–46, 422–23, 449, 475. See also Titan II Launch Complex 374-7 accident

Native American terms for, 327

at nuclear power plants, 113, 452, 460

number of (1950–57), 167

number of (1950–68), 327–28

official document on (1957–67), 465

plutonium dispersal from, 185, 249, 309, 316–18, 322–23, 373–74, 384, 430

and ready/safe switch, 246–47, 298, 320, 374

Shrimp YIELD, miscalculation of, 137–40

Soviet R-16 explosion, 269–70

test site misses, 149

and Thor missiles, 308–9

and Titan II. See Titan II

during training, 169–70, 191, 310–11, 324, 339–46

uranium versus plutonium, 164

“Accidents and Incidents Involving Nuclear Weapons,” 465

Acheson, Dean, 124, 279

Aderhold, David W., 29

Aerozine-50 rocket fuel, 4

Afghanistan, Soviet invasion of, 12–13, 367, 444

Agnew, Harold

PALS, 263–65

parachute delivery idea, 134, 258

position of, xvii, 258, 332

weapons safety efforts, 258, 261, 265, 470

Agriculture, and radiation contamination, 139, 318

Airborne alert, 179–81, 188, 190–91, 267, 319–20

end of, 325, 331

Air defense weapons. See Antiaircraft missiles

Air Force Accident Investigation Board, 25–26

Air Force Ground Observer Corps, 86

Air Force Reserve, 148–49

Air Force Space Command, 484

Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, 35

Alexander, Bill, 430

Alpha meters, 417, 420

Alternate National Military Command Center, 273

Alvarez, Luis, 41

Amami, Korechika, General, 55

Anderson, Gregory W., Airman, 345

Anderson, James S., Dr., 436

Anderson, John B., 14

Anderson, Orvil, General, 82

Anderson, Roger E., 16

Andropov, Yuri, 446–47, 451

AN/FSQ-7 computers, 153

Anglin, Gus

evacuation order by, 112, 229

and oxidizer trailer leak (1978), 63, 111–12

position as sheriff, xvi, 62–63

Titan II accident response by, 63–64, 112, 419–20, 429

Titan II explosion, 392–94

Antiaircraft missiles

Cuban missile crisis, atomic antiaircraft

Genie, 161–66, 168, 172, 292, 334, 376, 465

Falcon, 292

Nike, 151

rationale for, 161–62

AntiBallistic Missile Treaty, 358

“Appeal to the Peoples of the World” (Holt), 74

Arab-Israeli War (1973), 358–59

Archies, 49, 135

Arizona, Titan II launch complexes in, 27, 350

Arkansas

Clinton as governor. See Clinton, Bill

nuclear power plant accidents in, 113

Titan II accidents in. See Titan II Launch Complex 374-4 accident

Titan II launch complexes in, 12, 18–20, 23, 111

Arkansas Office of Emergency Services, 112–13

Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), 97–98, 125–26, 166

accidents, acceptable probabilities, 171–72

functions of, xix

Arms control. See also Disarmament movement

AntiBallistic Missile Treaty, 358

Bush (George H. W.) efforts, 458

and Carter, 362–64

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 469–70

early military support for, 75, 84–85, 87

Eisenhower test ban, 198–99

Interim Agreement on Certain Measures with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, 358

Limited Test Ban Treaty, 296

postatomic bomb, 74–75, 77–79

Reagan/Gorbachev efforts, 451–53

Threshold Test Ban Treaty, 358

Army Corps of Engineers, 219

Arnold, Henry H. “Hap,” General, 74–75

Arnold, Matthew

Titan II accident response by, 422–23, 426–27, 432

and weapons deactivation, 415–18, 422–23

Aronson, Gerald J., 192

Assured Destruction strategy, 302, 352, 434–35

Atlas missile

problems/dangers of, 182, 222

propellants of, xx, 222

reentry vehicle with, 226

Atomic bomb

arms control efforts, 74–75, 77–79

casualties of, 51–52, 54

creation of. See Manhattan Project

film footage of, 134

Japan bombing, 51–55

military versus civilian control issue, 77–78, 87–88

missing specifications for, 96–97

post–World War II tests, 80–81

power, source of, xix, 38–40

Soviet development, 85–86

targeting errors, 53–54, 81–82

types of injuries from, 54

Atomic Demolition Munitions, 256–57

Atomic energy

A-bomb power from, xix, 38–40

national policy formation, 77–79

Atomic Energy Act (1946), 78, 126, 257, 465

Atomic Energy Act (1954), 159, 257

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

authority, scope of, xix, 78–79, 125, 159, 207, 313

end of, 370

Project 56 safety investigation (1955–56), 163–66

weapons safety inquiry by (1957), 166–70

weapon storage sites, 157

Attorney, military. See Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG)

Ayala, Eric, and Titan II repair, 29, 57–58

B-26 bombers, 86

B-29 bombers

accident rate for, 97

atomic bombing by, 48–51