Friday, November 14, 2014

Managing nuclear weapons

We don't do a good job of it, two recent government studies show. The Pentagon will have to spend billions of dollars over the next five years to make emergency fixes to its nuclear weapons infrastructure. Note the word 'emergency'.

Some problems found:

  • aging blast doors over 60-year-old silos would not seal shut.
  • crews that maintain the nation’s 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles had only a single wrench that could attach the nuclear warheads.
  • at submarine bases staffing was so short and parts so scarce that nuclear-armed submarines were kept away from patrols for far longer than planned.

The fundamental problem seems to be that the nuclear commanders focused on micromanaging minor issues and ignoring major problems staring them in the face.

What government agency will next appear in the media for being incompetent?

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