At the bottom of the oceans there are nuclear devices, from the Cold War, that could detonate at any moment

At the bottom of the oceans there are nuclear devices, from the Cold War, that could detonate at any moment

The hydrogen bomb that sank near Palomares was recovered in 1966

Although every nuclear bomb in the world is closely watched, there are nuclear devices that threaten humanity from the bottom of the oceans, where they were lost during the Cold War, and that could emit radiation at any time.

Although their mechanisms no longer work and they cannot activate their nuclear ammunition, they are capable of emitting radioactive substances, reports the Russian portal  Esoreiter.ru , which has compiled data on nuclear devices ‘lost’ by the nuclear superpowers during the War. cold.

The ‘dead’ submarines

On April 10, 1963, the American submarine Thrasher was crushed by the water, along with its 129 crew members, after exceeding its maximum immersion limit. The submersible did not carry nuclear weapons but was powered by two nuclear reactors, which now rest, along with their deadly fuel, at a depth of about 2,500 meters.

In June 1968, the US nuclear submarine Scorpion was declared lost along with its 99 crew members. His remains were found months later, in the Atlantic Ocean, 740 kilometers southwest of the Azores Islands. Its nuclear reactor and two nuclear-charged torpedoes still lie today at a depth of 3,000 meters.

Just 48 hours after the US Scorpion sank to the bottom of the sea, another tragedy shook the oceans when the Soviet Navy’s K-27 nuclear submersible caught fire in the experimental reactor with liquid metal coolant. As a result of the fire, nine sailors died from acute radiation. Despite everything, the Soviet sailors managed to bring the ship to their base. In 1981 it was decided to sink the submarine in one of the bays of Novaya Zemlya.

Long before the ‘last dive’ of the K-27, there was the sinking of the K-8 submarine, one of the firstborn of the Soviet nuclear fleet. The submersible sank during a fire in the Bay of Biscay on April 12, 1970. After 80 hours of fighting for the “survival” of the ship, during which time the sailors had time to turn off the reactors and evacuate part of the crew, a Bulgarian ship approached them. It is unknown if it carried nuclear weapons but it is known that it consisted of two reactors.

The K-278 Komsomolets nuclear-powered attack submarine sank on April 7, 1989 in the Norwegian Sea.

In 2003, the Russian submersible K-159, towed for scrapping, sank in the Barents Sea. In 2014, Russian and Norwegian scientists examined the ship. The radiation levels in thrush to the submersible were normal. Experts say that for about 20 years they will continue to be normal, but what would happen next?

The Bellona Foundation

Nuclear ‘gifts’ from heaven

On February 13, 1950, an engine caught fire on a B-36 bomber en route from Alaska to Texas. The crew dropped an atomic bomb and then parachuted from the aircraft.

In 1958,  a B-47 Stratojet bomber and an F-86 Saber fighter collided in the sky over Georgia  . On board the bomber, which crashed after the collision (the pilots managed to eject), was the three-megaton Mark 15 bomb, which fell near Tybee Island and was never found.

In 1968, the Americans lost four atomic bombs near Greenland, of which they were only able to recover three.

The Americans have officially acknowledged the loss of 11 nuclear bombs, although the actual number of such incidents is unknown. Were there also ‘losses’ of this kind in the USSR? Possibly yes.

US Navy

And now the main

Nuclear bombs cannot explode on their own. However, for decades nuclear bombs and reactors are subjected to corrosion, so that sooner or later, their entrails will release their radioactive load, contaminating the water, flora and fauna of the ocean.