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 91av 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 shut down while the bomb was partially dismantled and scientists were flown in from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, UK, to X-ray the warhead. It ended up being transported back to Aldermaston for decommissioning. According to the reports, the MoD’s board of inquiry concluded that the accident was caused by the “wrongful act” of failing to attach the bomb container to the trailer, and recommended that six servicemen be disciplined.
The inquiry further revealed that a regulation requiring that containers be secured when being moved had been routinely ignored since October 1981. Bruggen’s commander at the time, whose name has been removed from the declassified report, admitted that the breach had almost become a standard operating procedure, despite being an “outrageously high risk practice”.
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The second accident occurred at Coulport naval base in Strathclyde, UK, on 3 December 1987, when a faulty Polaris missile was being unloaded from the Royal Navy submarine HMS Repulse. As the missile was being locked down onto a trailer, a crane hoisted it into the air, causing it to swing wildly and crash into the trailer supports.
According to the MoD’s board of inquiry, the weapon suffered “adverse shock”. The report blamed broken controls in the crane, which had missed 40 per cent of its regular mechanical and electrical checks in the previous 12 months. The inquiry concluded that had the crane been properly maintained, “it is highly probable that the incident would not have occurred”.
This week, the MoD described the accidents as “minor”. They were “fully investigated to rigorous safety standards and, where necessary, procedures were modified,” an MoD spokeswoman told 91av. “The MoD continues to maintain the highest standards of safety and security during the storage, transportation or deployment of nuclear weapons. There has never been an accident involving UK nuclear weapons that has presented any risk to the public.”
