How Safe Is A Nuclear Missile Facility?

Photo: Air Force forces practice a security intervention on a visiting PM editor. Jonathan Torgovnik

Behind The Scenes At A Nuclear Alert Facility -- Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics' Senior Editor Joe Pappalardo has some strange experiences at a U.S. nuclear missile base.

Great Falls, Mont.—Like most Americans, the citizens of Great Falls don't spend much time thinking about the nuclear missiles resting in silos dug into the surrounding high plains and mountains. Residents here seem more protective of their favorite trout streams and more worried about bears than about the local arsenal of nuclear weapons. "They've been here more than 50 years," says one taxi driver. "So what's the big deal?"

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My Comment: Is this too much security .... probably. Is it necessary .... well .... we are talking about nuclear weapons.

Everyone Is To Be Blamed For Leak Of U.S. Nuclear Data .... But No One will Be Punished

US nuclear sites (Image from Wikimedia)

U.S. Agencies Faulted By GAO For Leak Of Nuclear Data -- Washington Post

Five government agencies, the National Security Council and two congressional offices all share blame for the inadvertent publication of sensitive information regarding hundreds of civilian nuclear sites, government watchdogs concluded Wednesday.

Though the release of the information does not appear to have jeopardized national security, government officials agree that it should not have been published in June on the Web site of the Government Printing Office, the Government Accountability Office reported.

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My Comment: The key sentence in this report is the following ....

Experts said the incident proves yet again that the government needs to reform how it handles sensitive information.

But I am betting that nothing is going to be done .... and we will have a repeat of the same story in the near future.