The National Nuclear Security Administration has announced that dismantlement of the B53 nuclear bomb inventory will soon begin at the Energy Department’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Tex. The United States introduced this thermonuclear bomb type into its stockpile in 1962. It is about the size of a mini-van and weighs approximately 10,000 pounds. B-47, B-52, and B-58 bombers were able to carry it. The weapon, with a reported nine-megaton yield, was a key part of the US nuclear deterrent until its retirement in 1997. The B61-11 replaced it. The current B53 inventory is classified. The dismantlement process at Pantex will entail taking the bombs apart by physically separating the high explosives from the special nuclear material and then processing the material and components for reuse, demilitarization, sanitization, recycling, and ultimate disposal. NNSA said the B53 dismantlement “is consistent with President Obama’s goal of reducing” the nation’s nuclear stockpile. (For background, see Being Transparent from the Daily Report archives.)
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.