Candy_porn
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What is the risk of nuclear submarines/missile stockpiles in the Puget Sound being comprimised in the event of an earthquake?

There are eight nuclear submarines based in Bangor on the Kitsap peninsula and almost certainly other nuclear missile stockpiles in the region. What could happen to these in the event of an earthquake/tsunami?

Rickler asked in Earthquake! about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Avatar_default
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    There's very little risk with the missiles-- it requires a very precise set of events to detonate one. It's a little scary to read about all the nuclear weapons that were damaged and even lost in accidents during the Cold War but none resulted in any widespread radiation exposure. The US also no longer uses liquid fueled rockets, which caused some of the serious fires on Soviet missile subs.

    As for the reactors, if the subs are at sea they probably wouldn't even notice the earthquake. The reactors are shut off before the subs are put in dry dock, so that shouldn't be an issue either. Even if a sub were caught up in a tsunami (not very likely because Hood Canal is a very sheltered waterway and once the subs are in deeper water tsunamis have no effect), naval reactors are much smaller than power generating ones and are designed to be quickly shut down (which makes sense given that they are fighting vessels that could be expected to be damaged in battle).

    Jack answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago | Report
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  • September_08_2_13_small
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    The submarines tied to the pier would probably be the most at risk to being damaged, but unlikely that there would be a nuclear incident because of it. Those reactors have a lot of redundant containment and the operators are drilled daily on what to do in casualty situations.

    The weapons have their own safety measures. There is no way that they could go off, and unlikely that they could be damaged to the point of spreading contamination.

    prompt answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago | Report
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