Accident risk weighed at Bangor Trident Base

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Trident missiles could be made safer, studies say

A recent incident sparks interest in research showing the effects of a
serious accident at Bangor.

Christopher Dunagan
The Sun
March 28, 2004

BANGOR [WA] - The risks are slight, experts say, but the consequences
could be enormous.

A chemical explosion in a Trident missile at the Navy's Bangor submarine
base potentially could spread radioactive plutonium all the way to
Seattle, according to scientists and policy experts who have studied the
missile's design.

Such an accident could raise the cancer risk for thousands of local
residents and cost the government billions of dollars, they say.

While nobody wants to contemplate such an accident, a few scientists
have examined the issues in cold, hard statistical terms.

Their studies are attracting renewed interest following a recent
incident at the Bangor base that did not release radiation, but which
raised questions about the area's vulnerability if that were ever to happen.

"It all depends on the level of contamination," said Frank von Hippel, a
Princeton professor who co-authored a 1990 report on a hypothetical
accident at the Naval Submarine Base at Bangor.

...

for the entire story, see
http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2004-03-28/local/435353.shtml

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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