November
10, 1950
United
State Nukes Canada
A U.S. Air Force B-50
Superfortress bomber, experiencing an in-flight emergency, jettisoned and
detonated a Mark IV nuclear bomb at 2,500 feet above the Saint Lawrence River,
near Saint-André, Quebec. Slightly before 4:00 p.m., the explosion rocked the town
and caused a thick cloud of yellow smoke. The plutonium core had been removed
before transport, so the blast was limited to a conventional chemical explosion
used to destroy the weapon, but 100 pounds of uranium were scattered in the
river, and the weapon was never recovered.
The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was
an American nuclear bomb design produced starting in 1949 and in use until
1953. Mark 4 models used composite uranium and plutonium fissile pits. Along
with being composite cores, the device was the first weapon to rely upon
levitated-pit implosion. These early weapons with a levitated pit had a
removable pit, called an open pit. It was stored separately, in a special
capsule called a birdcage.
Born in 1950?
Then
congratulations for turning 65 and entering the world of Medicare. If you
would like to know more about the maze we call Medicare …
