The Last of the U.S.' Largest Nuclear Bombs To Be Dismantled

The last of the most powerful of the United States' nuclear bombs is being dismantled, close to 50 years after it was put into service, when it Cold War was at its peak.

The weapon is called the B53. It was a bomb, not missile, and was designed to be carried by the United States' B-52 strategic bomber. Today, the final pieces of the B53 will be disassembed at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, which is the country's only nuclear weapons assembly --- and disassembly --- facility. When done, it will mean the B53 dismantling program will be complete a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

The B53 was first put into service in 1962, after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The bomb weighed 8,850 pounds pounds or nearly 4.5 tons and was the size of a current day minivan. The American Federation of Scientists, the B53 was 600 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The project was challenging, because the B53 was built using old technology, and by engineers who have either retired or died. John Woolery, the Pantex plant's general manager, said "We knew going in that this was going to be a challenging project, and we put together an outstanding team with all of our partners to develop a way to achieve this objective safely and efficiently."

The B53 entered production, first designated the Mk 53, in 1962. It was built from 1962 through 1965. Approximately 340 B53 bombs were build. It entered service as ordinance carried first by the B-47 Stratojet, then on the B-52 Stratofortress, and B-58 Hustler bombers in the mid-1960s. After 1968 it was redesignated the B53.

Wikipedia said, that the B53, originally called the Mk 53, "was the oldest and highest yield thermonuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal until 2010. It was one of the most powerful nuclear weapons ever built by the United States with a yield of 9 megatons of TNT (38 PJ). Although not in active service for many years before 2010, 50 were retained during that time as part of the 'Hedge' portion of the Enduring Stockpile until its complete dismantling in 2011, a year ahead of schedule. The B53 was replaced in the bunker-busting role by a variant of the two-stage B61. The B53 was similar to the W-53 warhead used in the Titan II Missile, which was decommissioned in 1987.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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