A 50 Megaton Oops
March 25th, 2008 - 10:26 am
When it comes to handling dangerous nuclear technology, we don’t make mistakes — we have happy accidents. Or at least that’s what I got from reading this story:
The U.S. military mistakenly shipped four fuses for nuclear missiles to Taiwan in 2006, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding that the parts have been returned to U.S. custody.
The military was supposed to ship helicopter batteries to Taiwan but instead sent fuses used as part of the trigger mechanism on missiles.
Why the sudden revelation of two-year-old news? To send a message to China: If you ever threaten to crack down on Taiwan like you’ve cracked down on Tibet, we could ship those fuses to Taipei on purpose.
I mean, who confuses helicopter batteries for nuclear triggers?
Is China running for Olympics?
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“I mean, who confuses helicopter batteries for nuclear triggers?”
Well, when someone puts the wrong thing in a bin clearly labeled helicopter batteries, er, not that I have either. Really. Seriously. No need to look.
In all seriousness, this was just a way of giving the Taiwanese the opportunity to look at how to make nuclear triggers. And PRC, why would Taiwan need to look at nuclear triggers? You got three guesses.
Interesting thought. I wonder how long it took to “discover” the mistake.
Before that little nuclear oopsie last year involving the inadvertent flight of half a dozen nuclear-armed cruise missiles across the country, I’d have agreed without hesitation. Now, though, I have to wonder if it wasn’t an honest mistake. It’s probably just a plain cardboard box with an obscure parts number stamped on it in either case …
maybe that’s just it… helicopter batteries ARE nuclear triggers. Some idot just let the news get out.