To understand this, you need to know how a nuclear weapon functions.
Fissionable nuclear material requires TREMENDOUS pressure to create a sustainable nuclear reaction. This pressure is created by high explosives. In its simplest form, take a ball of fissionable material, maybe 3" in diameter and embed it as a core in the center of a ball of high explosives maybe 2' in diameter. The HE is segmented, with each segment shaped so the force of the detonation is directed inward and applied to the fissionable material to create the pressure necessary to create a sustainable nuclear reaction. The segments of the HE are detonated by electric impulses supplied by a battery.
Now, up until about 1960, the fissionable material was not permently installed inside the high explosives. There was a hollow core of the appropriate size in the center of the HE with a hole leading to it. The fissionable material was encased in stainless steel and mounted on a rod. It wasn't until the weapon was armed for use that the fissionable material was inserted into the center of the NE by electro-mechanical means. Around 1960, the weapons were refined in design so that the fissionable material was enclosed permanently within the HE as part of the manufacturing process.
So, back to Savannah Bay. The weapon dropped into the bay would certainly have been an early type that would not have had the fissionable material inserted into the HE while the weapon was being transported. In 1958, for whatever reason a B47 was carrying a nuclear weapon, the fissionable material may not even have been on the airplane. As the weapon in this instance was obviously not being prepared for actual use, there wouldn't have been any reason for it to have been there. If the Air Force says there was no nuclear material involved, I'd believe it.
Apparently all that is lying at the bottom of Savannah Bay is a bunch of high explosives. Most likely the weapon itself has rusted to a point where the HE is waterlogged and inert, although I wouldn't bet on that.
How do I know all this? The last three years I was in the Marine Corps, I was on an assembly team building the darn things. It was a multi-service endeavor, and I can still hear an Air Force Captain giving an orientation presentation to us "newbies". "Gentlemen, without your knowledge for the last six months to a year you've been under intense investigation. Right now the FBI knows more about you than you know yourself. And, trust me, the KGB knows as much as the FBI". Comforting thought.
One misconception I'd like to clear up. It seems most people think if a nuclear weapon were dropped accidently, the impact with the ground would cause a full scale nuclear detonation. Most likely wouldn't happen. Impact with the ground would break up the high explosives so that even if it detonated, the pressure pattern would be destroyed and not create a nuclear reaction.
In actual use (only twice in history) a nuclear weapon never touches the ground. For maximun effectiveness, they're detonated electrically at a preset altitude above the ground. It sticks in my mind the ones dropped on Japan detonated at 1800 feet.
I could go on and on about safety precautions, etc., that have been in place since day one that have allowed the nuclear weapons industry to have a 100% perfect safety record, but this has gotten too long already. Maybe some other time.
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