Warbird Information Exchange

No Major Radiation Leak for Lost H-Bomb

Tue Apr 12, 3:04 PM ET U.S. National - AP


By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Government testing for possible signs of a nuclear bomb lost off the Georgia coast in 1958 found no significant radiation, the Air Force said in a letter to a Georgia newspaper.



Last September, government scientists took radiation readings and soil samples in waters near Tybee Island after a retired Air Force pilot who has searched privately for the bomb reported finding possible radioactive clues.


The government has not released a final report, but a letter by Air Force Col. James DeFrank, written in response to a story by The Associated Press, said government tests did not match radiation levels reported by Derek Duke.


"Since the interagency team did not find the `significant' radiation levels Mr. Duke's team reported, the focus shifted to the arduous task of analyzing data to determine what the samples did contain," wrote DeFrank, the Air Force deputy director of public affairs.


The letter was sent April 4 to the editorial page of The Macon Telegraph, one of the newspapers that published the AP story. The newspaper did not publish the letter, but the Air Force provided the AP with a copy Tuesday.


The H-bomb was dumped at sea in 1958 by a damaged B-47 bomber during a training flight after the plane collided with a fighter jet. The Air Force says the Mark-15 bomb lacks the plutonium capsule needed to trigger an atomic blast. Still, it contains about 400 pounds of conventional explosives and an undisclosed amount of uranium.


Duke said he was perplexed by the government's finding.


"There's no question in my mind that the day we reported those readings, they existed," he said.