The United States has dismantled its biggest nuclear bomb. The country’s last B53 nuclear bomb was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Workers at the Pantex Plant in Texas separated the 300 lb of high explosives inside the special nuclear material known as the pit. For security reasons, because the B53 was built using older technology by engineers who have long died or retired, the dismantling was held outside of public view. Officials and reporters, however, were allowed to watched about less than a mile away during the detonation.
It was a milestone accomplishment according to the deputy secretary of energy, Daniel Poneman. The dismantling of the powerful bomb was part of President Barack Obama’s goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.
With the 9 megaton bomb gone, the country’s biggest nuclear bomb is now the 1.2 megaton B83.
Do you agree with the dismantling of the B53? Should countries continue to keep nuclear bombs in their arsenal or can countries remain safe without one?
