(Image Source: NNSA)

BY CHARLIE MCKEAGUE

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

The U.S’s last remaining mega nuke is being dismantled in Texas on Tuesday.


A mighty beast built in 1962. It’s reportedly 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima.  Fox News reports, the bomb - the size of a minivan, will be difficult to disarm.

“Very dangerous with this particular type of weapon. This is the last of the mega death weapons … A huge bomb, nine megatons. … The problem with this type of bomb is it didn’t have any of the modern safety devices put into it.  So the explosive around the pit for example could be detonated a variety of ways, a spark, a lightning storm, a hit to to the bomb in a crucial place. So it is a very sensitive process to dismantle this bomb without setting it off."

The B-53 nuclear bomb is the last one of its kind and the U.S. has already dismantled about 300 prior to this one.  NNSA reports the U.S. used the B-53’s as a scare tactic – pointing them at Russia during the Cold War.  NNSA says the world can thank President Obama for the dismantlement.

“....The B-53 had the unique role as the largest bomb that we had.  Now in the aftermath of President Obama articulating his vision for a world without nuclear weapons and calling for us to make less use of nuclear weapons and use less of them. This dismantlement of this final B-53 is testimony to the seriousness of President Obama’s commitment, and the United States is delivering on it.”

But Wired notes, the U.S. still has plenty of nuclear power at its disposal.

“America’s nuclear arsenal remains enormous; the U.S. will still have 1,500 atomic weapons, by the time the latest U.S.-Russia nuke treaty runs its course.”

When the task is finished - U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman – says a great deal of credit should be given to all of those involved.

“The dismantlement of the B-53 bomb -- the oldest weapon in America's arsenal and one of the largest in U.S. history -- is a major accomplishment that has made the world safer and for which everyone involved should be proud,"