TWO of the UK’s most serious nuclear weapons accidents in the 1980s were caused by continual lapses in safety procedures, according to newly declassified government reports released to New Scientist under freedom of information laws. What is more, the accidents were of greater seriousness than previously admitted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The first accident happened on 2 May 1984 at RAF Bruggen in Germany. A nuclear warhead was damaged in transit when its container slid off a wet trailer as it cornered. The warhead rolled onto the tarmac and was dented within its container. The base was…
