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Lost Bomb's Radioactive Legacy

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 08:00 CST

Residents living in Greenland say the 1968 crash of a B-52 aircraft, armed with nuclear warheads, has left a lasting legacy.

Many claim long-term damage to the environment and to the health of individuals. 

Historians say following a fire aboard the aircraft, the high explosives surrounding the nuclear weapons exploded without setting off the actual nuclear devices.

Three of the four bombs being carried by the plane smashed on to the ice and broke into tiny fragments.

Declassified documents reveal radioactive material was widely flung across the ice and was also thrust into the sky in a plume of smoke. 

Danish workers near Thule cleaned up the wreckage in the subsequent weeks and months under an enormous US military operation.

"I was never given any protective equipment; I just went out in whatever you normally wore at work," recalls Jeffrey Carswell.

"You had this special team with the airmen in full protective equipment climbing on top of these 50,000 gallon drums and containers and I was down there, on a daily basis, (with) no protective equipment."

They say one of the weapons melted through the ice and sank into the bay below where it was abandoned, after a submarine search failed to locate it.
US scientists decided that the environmental impact would be limited because the material had been dispersed in such a large body of water.

"The bottom of the ocean is not a bad place in terms of environmental effects," said William H Chambers, formerly of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory.

Before the base was established in 1953, the land was home to the local Greenlanders, who were then relocated 60 miles further north up the coast to the village of Qannaq.

Hunting is still an integral part of life and livelihood in Qannaq. Some hunters believe they have seen the effects of the 1968 crash's radioactive material.
"There were two times when I hunted, when the seal's insides were dried out. Something must have happened to them," Ussaaqqak Qujaukitsoq said.

"If we think about the walruses and the other birds that have eating grounds on the bottom of the ocean, we will see the impact of it."

Villagers also complain of undiagnosed, unusual illnesses.

Crash site workers like Jeffrey Carswell, believe they have paid a price.

"I was referred to a specialist and they discovered I had a particular condition that needed to be operated on straight away," Carswell said.

"My doctor said that my particular condition was caused by exposure to radiation and plutonium.

"As we found out when we started talking to colleagues, a lot of those of us who were there at the time had problems of various types, all sorts of shocking problems that is, for sure, linked to what happened at Thule."

Local residents say that they have been fighting through the consequences.

"There are four petitioners included in this case," explains their lawyer Ian Anderson. "Two of them have died of radiation illnesses and they are being represented by their next of kin. Two of them are seriously ill with radiation-related conditions.

"The case is quite simple: had they been medically monitored from the year 2000 when that directive came in to force, their conditions would have been detected at an earlier stage with a much better prognosis."

The Danish government claims there is no evidence to suggest a long-term health impact.

"We have found no link between the crash and the illness of the Thule workers," says Kaare Ulbak, from the Danish National Institute of Radiation Protection.

"We have very good registers for cancer incidents and cancer mortality and we have made a very thorough investigation."

The head of the Association of Former Thule Workers, Jens Zieglersen, remains unconvinced.

"I think it's a cover-up. We are getting older and the Danish authorities and the Danish government will wait and keep their mouths sealed for another 15, 20 years; then there's no-one left that remembers and who was a part of the accident back in the days of '68."

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Image Caption: -In a conventional conflict, the B-52 can perform air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations. During Desert Storm, B-52s delivered 40 percent of all the weapons dropped by coalition forces. It is highly effective when used for ocean surveillance, and can assist the U.S. Navy in anti-ship and mine-laying operations. Two B-52s, in two hours, can monitor 140,000 square miles (364,000 square kilometers) of ocean surface. All B-52s are equipped with an electro-optical viewing system that uses platinum silicide forward-looking infrared and high resolution low-light-level television sensors to augment the targeting, battle assessment, flight safety and terrain-avoidance system, thus further improving its combat ability and low-level flight capability. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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On the Net:

• Pentagon
• Greenland government
• Danish government

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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