A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe

Re:A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe by phillco on Sunday September 22, 2019 @01:54PM (#21042781)

> Worse still – and unmentioned by Batzel – a design flaw in the B28 bomb meant that if exposed to prolonged heat, two wires too close to the casing could short circuit, arm the bomb, trigger an accidental detonation of the HE [high explosives] surrounding the core, and set off a nuclear explosion"

P0 - WontFix

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Re:A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe by 7952 on Sunday September 22, 2019 @03:27PM (#21043359)

It's a feature really. A bomb that is too safe has lower detterance value. And because we really don't want to have a nuclear war it would be irresponsible to have bombs that are too safe.

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Re:A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe by mikeash on Sunday September 22, 2019 @04:39PM (#21043782)

This was an actual reason for not having authentication devices, and why the Minuteman force had a password of 00000000 for a couple of decades. But it doesn’t apply to safety in a fire.

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Re:A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe by toomanybeersies on Sunday September 22, 2019 @10:42PM (#21045549)

Dr Strangelove? Is that you?

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Re:A Burning B-52 Nearly Caused A Nuclear Catastrophe by 7952 on Wednesday September 25, 2019 @08:15AM (#21069969)

yee haw!

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