Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 22. maj 2002 / Time Line May 22, 2002
Version 3.005/22/2002
Air Force Releases Reports on Palomares, Spain and Thule Airbase, Greenland
Nuclear Weapons Accidents
Headquarters U.S. Air Force
http://airforcemedicine.afms.mil/latestnews/palomares.htm
The Air Force Surgeon General's Office released two reports today
containing the reevaluations of radiation exposure for personnel
who participated in the clean up of a 1966 nuclear weapons accident
in Palomares, Spain, and a 1968 accident near Thule Airbase,
Greenland. The reevaluations, using modern modeling methods,
confirmed original conclusions that the exposures were not
significant...
Following the completion of the clean-up in 1966, the U.S. and
Spanish Governments have continued to conduct medical surveillance
of the Palomares residents and environmental monitoring of the
site. Concentrations of plutonium and americium have been monitored
in air, soil, and food products. No radiation-related cancers have
been detected in the Palomares residents.
The Thule accident occurred on January 21, 1968, when a B-52 caught
fire. A "bail out" command was issued and the aircraft crashed into
a sea of ice in the Wholstenholme Fjord approximately eight miles
west of Thule Airbase. The crash caused the high explosives in the
unarmed nuclear weapons to detonate, dispersing plutonium and
tritium into the surrounding air, snow and ice. Subsequent surveys
confirmed that most of the plutonium and tritium were confined in a
blackened area of ice and snow in an oval pattern from the impact
point. This significantly reduced the potential for plutonium and
tritium residues to become airborne and inhaled by response
personnel.
The response to the Thule incident to find, safeguard, recover, and
return weapon's contents to the United States, and to assess and
mitigate effects on the local populace and ecosystem required over
700 active duty Air Force personnel for a period of nine months.
Contaminated ice was removed in February and March 1968, and the
remaining ice melted in the spring of 1968. Environmental
contamination was studied by scientific expeditions in 1968, 1970
and 1974, finding no significant exposures to plutonium..
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