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"Georgia's
Own Offshore Nuclear Bomb" 01/21/2001 TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (Associated
Press) -- Lost beneath the shallow waters and sand off the Georgia coast lies a
Cold War relic that lingered for decades only in vague memories and folklore: a
7,600-pound nuclear bomb dumped by a crippled Air Force plane. Nearly 43 years
later, questions raised by a former military pilot and a Georgia congressman
have prompted the government to consider renewing its search for the lost bomb
near this island 12 miles east of Savannah. The bomb is lost in Wassaw Sound,
where the 1996 Olympic sailing competition was held. The Air Force insists the
bomb lacks a key plutonium capsule needed to cause a nuclear explosion, though
it still contains radioactive uranium and the explosive power of 400 pounds of
TNT. "The bomb off the coast of Savannah is not capable of a nuclear
explosion," said Maj. Cheryl Law, an Air Force spokeswoman. As for the
uranium still inside the bomb, "to have that hurt you, you would actually
have to ingest it." That doesn't mean the bomb is harmless. High explosives
in the 12-foot cylinder, resembling a large propane tank, could cause serious
damage if they detonated with a boat directly overhead. There's also the
environmental threat of an underwater explosion and radiation leakage killing
fish and other sea life. But there's no guarantee the bomb could be found.
Experts have warned the Air Force that tides and strong weather patterns over
the years could have moved the bomb out to sea. Officials believe the bomb sank
at least five miles off the coast, beneath about 20 feet of water and an
additional 15 feet of sand and silt, said Maj. Don Robbins, deputy director of
the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counter Proliferation Agency. If it exploded,
the bomb "would create maybe a 10-foot-diameter hole and shock waves
through the water of approximately 100 yards," Robbins said. "Even
boats going over it would not even notice. They might see some bubbles coming
out around them." The amount of uranium in the bomb's casing is too low to
cause a serious environmental threat, he said. (January 24, 2001 from
www.latimes.com).
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