The real role of the Spanish Air Force in the Palomares incident

Authors

  • José Herrera Plaza Investigador independiente

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v12i25.867

Keywords:

Nuclear accidents, Spain-US relations, Nuclear weapons, Plutonium contamination, Palomares incident

Abstract

The Palomares incident (Almeria, January 17, 1966), which occurred in the middle of the Cold War, was caused by the collision of a US B-52 bomber with its tanker while refuelling. The four MK28-FI thermonuclear bombs it was carrying fell next to the wreckage of both aircrafts. Each had a power of mass destruction seventy times greater than the one that fell on Hiroshima. Two of them released most of their plutonium-based radioactive fuel. More than 629 hectares were contaminated due to high winds. The search for another one by land and sea, the collection of 125 tons of debris and the decontamination work involved the arrival of about 1600 US Air Force (USAF) and 3400 navy personnel in one of the poorest and most poorly communicated provinces of the country within the span of almost three months.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role played by the Spanish Air Force immediately after the event. It mobilized and put its material resources at the disposal of the 16th US Air Force thanks to its infrastructure and logistical capacity. It also exercised control and institutional representation at the scene of the events, collaborating in the radiological characterization and decontamination process, as well as the intermediation and defence of those affected via the processing of compensation claims. The rejection by the markets of any food products from the affected area prompted an urgent search for solutions. The real scope of its intervention was eclipsed by the spectacular nature of the events and neglected by the official history of both countries. Current historiography describes this intervention as little more than an act of support to the country responsible for the incident.

            The declassification of unpublished Spanish documents held by the Spanish Air Force (EMA), together with the archive of the former Nuclear Energy Board (JEN), allows us to evaluate in detail the key role that the Spanish Air Force played in the early relief of the wounded, the rapid deployment of USAF troops or the support to the members of the Nuclear Energy Board. To do so, it suffices to consult the deciphered Spanish and American teletypes, telephonemes, handwritten notes, and unpublished reports recently made public.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

José Herrera Plaza, Investigador independiente

Investigador independiente

References

Clara FLORENSA: “A nuclear monument the size of a football field: The diplomatic construction of soil nuclearity in the Palomares accident (Spain, 1966)”. Centaurus, 63-2 (2021), pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/1600-0498.12378.

José HERRERA PLAZA: Accidente nuclear de Palomares. Consecuencias (1966-2016). Mojácar, Arráez Editores, 2015.

José HERRERA PLAZA. “50 años del accidente nuclear de Palomares. Claves históricas para su comprensión”. Andalucía en la Historia, (64), (2016).

John HOWARD, The american nuclear cover-up in Spain. London, The British Library, 2017.

Emma IRANZO, Asunción ESPINOSA and Javier MARTÍNEZ: “Resuspension in the Palomares area of Spain a summary of experimental studies” Journal Aerosol Science, 25:5, (1994), pp. 833-841.

Olga KUCHINSKAYA: “Twice invisible: Formal representations of radiation danger”. Social Studies of Science 43:1 (2012), pp. 78-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312712465356

Wright LANGHAM, “Physiological properties of plutonium and assessment of body burden in man”. Viena, International Atomic Energy Agency, (Nov 1964). https://doi.org/10.2172/4074400.

Wright LANGHAM: “Physiological properties of plutonium and assessment of body burden in man”. International Atomic Energy Agency, Nov 1964.

Gonzalo LEAL ECHEVARRÍA y Franciso PÉREZ MANZUCO: “Análisis geológico para efectuar dos enterramientos de materiales radiactivos”. Rodalquilar, Empresa Nacional Adaro. 31/01/1966. Informe inédito.

Flora LEWIS: Palomares: Se ha perdido una bomba, Barcelona, Juventud, 1967.

M. MAGGELET and J. C. OSKINS: Broken Arrow. The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents. Morrisville, Lulu, 2007.

Rafael LORENTE: Las bombas de Palomares. Ayer y hoy. El Escorial, Ediciones Libertarias, 1985.

Randall C. MAYDEW: America’s lost H-Bomb!. Palomares, Spain, 1966. New York, Sunflower University Press, 1997, p. 3.

John MEGARA: “Dropping Nuclear Bombs on Spain. The Palomares Accident of 1966 and the U.S. Airborne Alert”. Tesis doctoral. The Florida State University. 2006. https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:180784/datastream/PDF/view

James E. MILLER: “Nuclear accidents at Palomares, Spain in 1966 and Thule, Greenland 1968”. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. 1985.

Arturo MONTEL TOUZET: “Energía Nuclear. Nociones teóricas, gráficas y tablas con problemas prácticos. Medidas de protección”. Escuela Superior del Aire, s.l., s.a.

Barbara MORAN: The day we lost the H-Bomb. New York, Random House, 2009.

Rafael MORENO IZQUIERDO: La historia secreta de las bombas de Palomares. Barcelona, Crítica, 2016.

J. NEWELL STANNARD: “Radioactivity and Health. A History”. Richland, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, 1988.

W.M. PLACE; F.C COBB y C.G DEFFERDING. “Palomares Summary Report”. Kirtland. Defense Nuclear Agency (1975). https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA955702

Robert N. PROCTOR: “A Missing Term to Describe the Cultural Production of Ignorance”, en R. N Proctor y Londa Schiebinger (ed.): Agnotology. The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance. Stanford, Stanford University Press (2008), pp. 8-40.

Eduardo RAMOS and Emilio IRANZO, “Experience of an accidental contamination by radioactive materials in Palomares, 1966”. IIº Simposio sobre los Riesgos de las Radiaciones Nucleares. Mónaco, Nov 10-15, 1966.

Antonio SÁNCHEZ PICÓN, José HERRERA PLAZA: Operación Flecha Rota. Accidente nuclear en Palomares. Junta de Andalucía, 2003.

Carlos SANCHO, Rosario LANZAS y Enrique CORREA: “Palomares: desde el accidente al Plan de Restauración”. Madrid, CSN, 2013. https://www.csn.es/documents/10182/1470017/Monografía+-+Palomares+--+Desde+el+accidente+al+plan+de+restauracion

Mario E. SCHILLACI: “Radiation and Risk a hard look at the data”. Los Alamos Science, nº 23, (1995), pp. 90-115.

J. NEWELL STANNARD: “Radioactivity and Health. A History”. Richland, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, (1988).

David STILES: “A Fusion Bomb over Andalucía: U.S. Information Policy and the 1966 Palomares Incident”. Journal of Cold War Studies, 8:1 (2005), pp. 49-67. https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/jcws.2006.8.1..pdf

Tad SZULC: Las bombas de Palomares, Barcelona, Seix Barral, 1968.

Guillermo VELARDE PINACHO. Proyecto Islero. Cuando España pudo desarrollar armas nucleares. Córdoba, Guadalmazán, 2016.

Eileen WELSOME: “Cobayas atómicos”. Barcelona, Luciérnaga, 2019.

Downloads

Published

2024-01-24

How to Cite

Herrera Plaza, J. (2024). The real role of the Spanish Air Force in the Palomares incident. Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 12(25), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v12i25.867

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 25 (2023): Mujeres en guerras, perspectivas discursivas

Section

Estudios

License

Copyright (c) 2024 José Herrera Plaza

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

  1. Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
  2. Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
  3. Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
  4. Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
  5. Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
  6. Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
  7. Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
  8. NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. For purposes of this Public License, the exchange of the Licensed Material for other material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights by digital file-sharing or similar means is NonCommercial provided there is no payment of monetary compensation in connection with the exchange.
  9. Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  10. Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
  11. You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

  1. License grant.
    1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
      1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part, for NonCommercial purposes only; and
      2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material for NonCommercial purposes only.
    2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
    3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
    4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
    5. Downstream recipients.
      1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
      2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
    6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).

  2. Other rights.

    1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
    2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
    3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties, including when the Licensed Material is used other than for NonCommercial purposes.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

  1. Attribution.

    1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:

      1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
        1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
        2. a copyright notice;
        3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
        4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
        5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
      2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
      3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
      For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
    2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
    3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

  1. for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database for NonCommercial purposes only and provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
  2. if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
  3. You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

  1. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
  2. To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.
  1. The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

  1. This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.

  2. Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:

    1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
    2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
    For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
  3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
  4. Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

  1. The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
  2. Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

  1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
  2. To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
  3. No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
  4. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Creative Commons may be contacted at creativecommons.org.