A retired navy pilot Lieutenant-Commander George Earl IV has claimed that he dumped radioactive Waste off the Atlantic seaboard on three flights in 1947. Lt-Commander Earl said he disclosed the radioactive dumping because of the U.S. Government's apparent lack of concern over the possibility of the cannisters leaking. ("The West Australian" - 3rd January 1981)

A B-36 which developed serious mechanical difficulties on a simulated combat mission, dropped a nuclear weapon from 8,000 ft. over the Pacific Ocean before crashing. Luckily only the weapon's explosive material detonated. Nothing is known of attempts to recover the nuclear weapon and presumably it is still in the ocean. (The Defence Monitor Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15th March 1981)

A B-29 crashed into a mountain on Manzano Base approximately three minutes after take-off. The bomb case was demolished and some high explosive material burned. The nuclear components of the weapon were recovered and returned to the Atomic Energy Commission. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 19981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15th March 1981)

A B-50 on training mission crashed killing 16 crewmen. The high explosive portion of the weapon aboard detonated on impact. No nuclear capsule aboard the aircraft. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15/3/1981)

A B-29 carrying a nuclear weapon crashed on take-off and the high explosive material detonated. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15th March 1981)

Due to an in-flight aircraft emergency, a weapon containing a capsule of nuclear material was jettisoned over water from an altitude of 10,500 feet. A high-explosive detonation was observed. No specific location was reported. (The Defence Monitor Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C.)

A uranium mining disaster desolated an area in N.W. Australia when heavy rainfall breached the earth wall of a mine's tailings dam and radioactive material was released into surrounding water systems. To date details are still secret. The mine was connected with the British and U.S. Nuclear Weapons Programs. Safety standards were rudimentary. As a result Australia has become extremely cautious about uranium mining according to Dr. Charles Kerr of the Department of Preventative and Social Medicine, University of Sydney, when testifying to a Royal Commission on uranium mining in Vancouver. (Source: AAP-AP, "The West Australian" - 11th January, 1980).

Between 1950 and mid-1977, there were 194 accidents at Windscale, 11 involving fires and explosions, 45 release plutonium (Sources: Nucleus - 25th July, 1979, P.17; "The New Ecologists" March/April, 1978)

9. 1951-1963, RESIDENTS' REACTION TO THE NUCLEAR TESTS HELD AT NEVADA TEST SITE, U.S.A.

Martha B. Laird's husband and son developed leukemia. Son died. Other children developed rashes. Sister reported burns to the eyes.

"During this time, our cows got white spots on them and developed cancer eyes," Mrs. Laird wrote to the Government. "One letter came back saying I was Communistically inspired" Another said: "Persons in fallout path were a small sacrifice." (Source: The Herald. -Tuesday 24th April, 1979)

First major reactor accident. Human error. Technician opened three or four valves and the resultant heat release melted some of the uranium fuel and boiled some of the coolant. The reactor core was nearly demolished by the explosions and much radioactivity was emitted. (Sources: Penelope Coleing for M.A.U.M./S. Novick. The Careless Atom, Delta books, NY 1969).

The EBR-1 reactor had a partial core meltdown which destroyed it with ensuing low level contamination. (Sources: Eco, Atomic Reactor Safety Hearings, 1973 p. 56/Webb p.187)

A B-47 carrying "two capsules of nuclear weapons material. from MacDill Air Force Base to an overseas bases, disappeared in clouds. "An extensive search failed to locate any traces of the missing aircraft or crew". A nuclear detonation was not possible. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" - 15th March 1981).

An American B-47 with weapons aboard crashed into a storage igloo containing several nuclear weapons. The bombs did not burn or detonate.- (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times. 15th March 1981). This air crash at a United States Air Force base could have turned the area into a nuclear "desert" according to new details which have emerged in the U.S. The crash, occurred when a B-47 bomber skidded on the runway after a flight from Nebraska and burst into flames. Blazing jet fumes gushed towards a shelter housing three nuclear bombs, each containing eight tonnes of T.N.T. and a quantity of uranium, according to the new details. Had the fire ignited the T.N.T. it is possible a part of eastern England could have become a desert, while the uranium could have exposed the area to contamination. ("The Age" 10th August 1981)

A B-36 ferrying a nuclear weapon from Biggs Air Force Base, Texas to Kirtland accidentally discharged a bomb in the New Mexico desert. The high explosive material detonated, completely destroying the weapon and making a crater approximately 25 ft in diameter and 12 ft deep. Radiological survey of the area disclosed no radioactivity beyond the lip of the crater at which point the level was 0.5 milliroentgens. Both the weapon and capsule were on board the aircraft but the capsule was not inserted for safety reasons. A nuclear detonation was not possible. (The Defence Monitor Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15th March 1981)

15. 1957, 28th July - U.S.A. , ATLANTIC OCEAN

A C-124 aircraft en-route from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, lost power in two engines and jettisoned two nuclear weapons over the ocean. "No detonation occurred from either weapon". The nuclear weapons were never found. (The Defence Monitor Vol.X No.6 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" 15th March 1981)

A B-47 crashed shortly after take-off with a nuclear weapon and a nuclear capsule on board.

"Two low order detonations occurred during the burning." - ("The National Times" 15th March 1981)

Fire caused by human error and defective procedures resulted in eleven tons of uranium being ablaze, relossing a vast cloud of radio-isotopes from the melted fuel. Milk from an area of more than 500 square kilometers (approx. 2 million litres) was poured into the rivers and sea as unsafe for human consumption. Farmers were compensated by the Government, but how many people living near Windscale were affected is not known. Nor is it known how much radioactivity descended over Westmoreland and Cumberland. Local inhabitants any there is a high incidence of cancer deaths in the area, but the Government did not carry out any medical or statistical checks. Both Windscale reactors have since been filled with concrete and entombed. The radioactive cloud reached up to Denmark. In London, 500 km from Windscale the radioactivity reached 20 times the normal level. Report of enquiries into safety was never published. (Sources s A. Gyorgy p.1198/S. Novick). However a previously classified report released in 1989, revealed that the Mc Millan Government invented large amounts of money to finance a concerted pro-nuclear campaign which included scientists traversing U.K., assuring people that the accident was insignificant. (W. Australian May 1989).

32 people died as a result of a fire at the Windscale Plant in 1957. The toll rose when the National Radiological Protection Board considered extra cases of cancer researched by a scientist who examined the effects of Polonium released in the accident. Polonium was used in atomic bombs at the time of the accident. ("West Australian" 1/4/1983)

Official documents about a fire at the Windscale reactor in 1957 were released. The accident was much more serious than was then admitted and it was due to defects in the organization of the British Atomic Energy Authority and in the instrumentation at Windscale. Information on the fire was ordered kept secret by Harold Mc Millan, the Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain and has been published now under the 30-year Rule which allows formerly confidential government documents to be declassified.

Windscale (later named Sellafield) was producing Plutonium for military use. The fire broke out at one of its atomic piles -primitive reactors in which containers of uranium were irradiated to produce the Plutonium. It raged for 16 hours. The Windscale cloud contaminated large areas of Britain and Ireland, and contained more than 600 times as much radioactive iodine as was released during the Three Mile Island accident. Authorities at the time decided not to evacuate local people even though they were exposed to radiation levels 10 times the allowed LIFETIME dose - within a matter hours. The only one safeguard taken to health was the destruction of two million litres of contaminated milk from farms around Windscale. However, it has now been revealed that milk with contamination up to three times the official danger limit was released for human consumption. ("Swedish News Service", "Financial Times" 2 Jan. 1988, "Observer" (U.K.) 3 Jan 1988, "Daily Telegraph" (U.K.) 2 Jan 1988, "Guardian" (U.K.) 4 Jan 1988, WISE 285.

18. 1958, 31st January - U.S. OVERSEAS BASE

A B-47 crashed and burned during take-off with one nuclear weapon "in strike configuration..." There was some contamination in the immediate area of the crash. ("The National Times" - 15th March 1981)

Midair collision between an F-86 aircraft and a B-47 on a simulated combat mission out of Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. The B-47 jettisoned the nuclear weapon, which was not found and considered irretrievably lost. ("The National Times" 15/3/1981)

A B-47 left Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia with three other B-47s en route to an overseas base. The aircraft accidentally jettisoned an unarmed nuclear weapon which impacted in a sparsely populated area 6-1/2 miles east of Florence, South Carolina. The bomb's high explosive material exploded on impact.("The National Times" 15/3/1981)

Explosion occurred in radioactive stockpile at a nuclear plant, presumably a weapons centre at Fyshtym, 43 miles from Chelyabinak. People "grew hysterical with fear with the incidence of unknown 'mysterious' diseases breaking out. Victims were seen with skin 'sloughing off' their faces, hands and other exposed parts of their bodies." (source: Pollock p.9) "Hundreds of square miles were left barren and unusable for decades and maybe centuries". Hundreds of people died, thousands were injured and surrounding areas were evacuated. (Source: Dr. Medvedev "The Australian" 9th December 1976). The area is now a wasteland. Drivers must pass through with their car windows closed and are not to stop. The C.I.A. knew of the accident all along but kept it secret so as not to affect the fledgling US nuclear industry. Information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from C.I.A. files. (Source: Gyorgy p.128). "Ralph Nader surmised that the information had not been released because of the reluctance of the C.I.A. to highlight a nuclear accident in the U.S.S.R., that could cause concern among people living near nuclear facilities in the U.S." (Pollock p.9)

The accident was confirmed by published Soviet research into the effects of radioactivity on plants and animals by Professor Leo Tumerman, former head of Biophysics Laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow. (Sources: Gyorgy, A. et al "No Nukes: Everyone's Guide to Nuclear Power" South End Press. 1979. "New York Times" - 7/11/76 p. 18. "Sydney Morning Herald" - 8th/12/11/76. "New Scientist" - 30/6/77. "The Australian" -9/12/76). Richard Pollock "Soviets Experience Nuclear Accident" in "Critical Mass Journal" - Jan 78, Vol.3 No.10 p.9. Clyde W. Burleson "The Day the Bomb Fell") - Sphere Books Ltd. 1980 p.37)

Nuclear reactor overheated. Six scientists were irradiated, transported to France for treatment. One death. (Sources Work Circle Environmental Protection; "Les Amis de la Terre". Agence de Presse Rehabilitation Ecologique, Repertoire den accidents Nucleaires, Paris 1974, 1976. "Accidents Near Accidents & Leaks in the Nuclear Industry", Penelope Coleing for Sydney M.A.U.M.)

B-47 caught fire on take-off and crashed, killing one crew member. The high explosive in the nuclear weapon on board exploded leaving "a crater 35 ft in diameter and 6 ft deep". Nuclear materials were recovered near the crash site. (Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" -15/3/1981)

A B-47 caught fire on the ground. The single nuclear weapon on board was destroyed by fire. Contamination was limited to the immediate vicinity. This was the eighth and last acknowledged B-47 accident making it the most accident-prone of the nuclear capable systems reported. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" -15/3/1981)

One death caused by radiation in the uranium enrichment plant. Plutonium had been allowed to accumulate inside a mixing vessel. When a new batch of plutonium was transferred to the vessel, all eight pounds of plutonium dissolved off the walls and came together in the centre of the vessel. The person working on it received ten times the lethal dose in less than a second. He died less than 35 hours later. (Sources: Walkatein "The Myth of nuclear Safety" The Ecologist July 1977. World Health Organisation, 1961 "Contingency Plan"

Cooling System failed. (World Health Organization "Contingency Plan")

Irradiated fuel element broke and plant caught fire. Two months of intense contamination followed. 400,000 square metres around the building were contaminated. (sources: "Accidents, Near Accidents And Leaks in the Nuclear Industry", Penelope Coleing for Sydney M.A.U.M.; Jean Geue A.A.B.C. "Les Amis de la Terre" L'escroquerie nucleaire. Stock 1978 France.)

Animas River near uranium mills at Darango, Colorado measured three times safe maximum dally level for radium. Crops on farms in area irrigated by river had twice radioactivity of other crops. ("Nucleus" - 25th July, 1979 p.11. SABNS/LANS Uranium Kit no 2 Aus. Autumn 1975.)

An F-100 caught fire on the ground while loaded with unarmed nuclear weapon. There was no reported contamination or clean-up problems (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" - 15th March 1981)

A C-124 on a nuclear logistics movement mission crashed on take-off. The aircraft was destroyed by fire which also destroyed one weapon. Limited contamination was present over a very small area. (The Defence Monitor - Vol.X No.5 1981 Washington D.C. "The National Times" - 15th March 1981)

A U.S. Navy P-5M aircraft ditched in Puget Sound off Whidbey Island, Washington. It was carrying an unarmed nuclear anti-submarine weapon containing no nuclear material. The weapon was not recovered. (The Defence Monitor, Vol.X No5/1981 Wash. D.C.)

A B-52 and KC-135 operating out of Columbia Air Force Base, Mississippi collided during refueling. Two unarmed nuclear weapons were recovered undamaged. ("The National Times" -15/3/1981)

Radioactive genes were slowly and deliberately released into the air after a serious accident in a reactor just north of the populous San Fernando Valley (Sources "From under the Rug" F.O.E. La Trobe University Vic.)