The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) published a report on Monday stating that a US nuclear bomb stored at a Dutch air base may have been damaged in a recent accident.
The news comes at a critical time as a new batch of the same type of weapons are due to be delivered to Europe, The Guardian reported.
Photo discovered by FAS suggests US nuclear bomb was damaged at Dutch base
FAS found a photo of the B61 bomb being checked for damage by two US soldiers and a civilian from an explosive ordnance disposal unit. The image depicts a twisted rear, a missing tail fin, and pink tape covering a potential hole.
Los Alamos National Laboratory included the photo in a 2022 presentation for job applicants, the report stated. Moreover, the FAS report geolocated the photo to the Volkel air force base, one of six bases in Europe storing 100 B61 nuclear gravity bombs as part of the US nuclear-sharing agreement.
An occurrence of nuclear weapon damage is typically referred to as a “bent spear” incident and is usually not disclosed to the public. US Air Force representative declined to comment on possible nuclear bomb damage at Dutch air base.
But a spokesperson said: “The US maintains the highest level of standards for personnel and equipment supporting the strategic arsenal, which includes routine training, maintenance, and security activities, to safeguard America’s critical capabilities.”
“It is US policy [that] we can neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location, including specific exercise or real-world operations,” the spokesperson added.
No official confirmation for the first case of a nuclear weapons accident
“It must be emphasized up front that there is no official confirmation that the image was taken at Volkel AB, that the bent B61 shape is a real weapon (versus a trainer), or that the damage was the result of an accident (versus a training simulation),” stated Hans Kristensen.
He is the author of the report and the director of the FAS nuclear information project.
“If the image is indeed from a nuclear weapons event, it would constitute the first documented case of a recent nuclear weapons accident at an airbase in Europe,” Kristensen wrote.
