Radioactive legacy of 'lost bomb'
By Gordon Corera
Security correspondent,
BBC News, Thule, Greenland |
The crash of a B-52 aircraft, armed with nuclear warheads, in north-west
Greenland back in 1968 has left a lasting legacy, according to those involved in
the clear-up and those who live in the region now.
There are claims of long-term damage to the environment and to the health of
individuals, allegations disputed by the governments involved.
Following the fire aboard the aircraft, the high explosives surrounding the
nuclear weapons exploded but without setting off the actual nuclear devices,
which were not armed.
Three of the four bombs being carried by the plane smashed on to the ice and
broke into tiny fragments.
Radioactive material was widely dispersed across the ice and was also thrust
into the sky in a plume of smoke, declassified documents show.
Danish workers rushed to the scene of the crash, near Thule, and were heavily
involved in clearing up the wreckage in the subsequent weeks and months as part
of an enormous US military operation.
However, some of those workers believe not enough thought was given to their
safety, given the presence of radioactive material from the bombs on board the
plane.
"I was never given any protective equipment; I just went out in whatever you
normally wore at work," recalls Jeffrey Carswell.
"You had this special team with the airmen in full protective equipment
climbing on top of these 50,000 gallon drums and containers and I was down
there, on a daily basis, (with) no protective equipment."
'Limited impact'
One of the weapons melted through the ice and sank into the bay below where
it was abandoned, after a submarine search failed to locate it.
US government scientists conducted numerous studies to try to work out what
would happen and eventually decided that if they could not recover the remaining
parts of the bomb, then no-one else could.
They also decided that the environmental impact would be limited because the
material had been dispersed in such a large body of water.
"The bottom of the ocean is not a bad place in terms of environmental
effects," William H Chambers, formerly of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, told
BBC News.
Before the base was established in 1953, the land was home to the local
Greenlanders, who were then relocated 60 miles further north up the coast to the
village of Qannaq.
In Qannaq, hunting is still an integral part of life and livelihood; some of
the hunters believe they have seen the effects of the 1968 crash's radioactive
material.
"There were two times when I hunted, when the seal's insides were dried out.
Something must have happened to them," Ussaaqqak Qujaukitsoq told me on the
waterfront of the village.
"If we think about the walruses and the other birds that have eating grounds
on the bottom of the ocean, we will see the impact of it."
Other villagers, who went to the crash, also complain of undiagnosed, unusual
illnesses.
And the workers at the crash site, like Jeffrey Carswell, also believe they
have paid a price.
"I was referred to a specialist and they discovered I had a particular
condition that needed to be operated [on] straight away," Mr Carswell told me.
"My doctor said that my particular condition was caused by exposure to
radiation and plutonium.
"As we found out when we started talking to colleagues, a lot of those of us
who were there at the time had problems of various types, all sorts of shocking
problems that is, for sure, linked to what happened at Thule."
The workers have taken a case through Europe's courts, arguing that Denmark
failed to abide by a European directive requiring their health be monitored.
To date, they have been unsuccessful.
"There are four petitioners included in this case," explains their lawyer Ian
Anderson.
"Two of them have died of radiation illnesses and they are being represented
by their next of kin. Two of them are seriously ill with radiation-related
conditions.
"The case is quite simple: had they been medically monitored from the year
2000 when that directive came in to force, their conditions would have been
detected at an earlier stage with a much better prognosis."
But the Danish government is adamant there is no hard evidence to suggest a
long-term health impact.
"We have found no link between the crash and the illness of the Thule
workers," says Kaare Ulbak, from the Danish National Institute of Radiation
Protection.
"We have very good registers for cancer incidents and cancer mortality and we
have made a very thorough investigation."
According to Dr Ulbak, between 0.5kg and 1kg of plutonium has been on the
seabed, seeping into the marine environment over the years, but surveys show
that this also poses no danger to humans in the region.
But former workers believe that the lack of proof of a link between the crash
and their ill-health is precisely because they have not been monitored over time
in a way that would allow such a link to be proved.
The head of the Association of Former Thule Workers, Jens Zieglersen, who
also helped at the crash, remains unconvinced.
"I think it's a cover-up. We are getting older and the Danish authorities and
the Danish government will wait and keep their mouths sealed for another 15, 20
years; then there's no-one left that remembers and who was a part of the
accident back in the days of '68."
It is now 40 years since the crash of the B-52. But for those who were in
Thule then and for those living in the region now, life and death is still
defined by the events of that day.
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