Washington - The United States mistakenly shipped fuses for
detonating nuclear warheads to Taiwan, but quickly recovered the
items after learning of the incident last week, Defence Department
officials said Tuesday.
The shipment in the fall of 2006 did not contain any nuclear or
fissile material, and had been safely stored in Taiwan until the US
military was notified by Taiwanese authorities of the mishap, Air
Force Secretary Michael Wynne told reporters.
'It has no nuclear material associated,' Wynne said. 'It is an
electrical component called a fuse.'
The Pentagon has launched an investigation into how the four
fuses, intended for installation in the nose-cones of an
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), were sent in place of a
Taiwanese order for helicopter batteries, Wynne said.
'I can tell you that it was very responsible on the part
of the Taiwanese that when they realized that what they had, they
notified the right authorities and started the recovery process,'
Wynne said.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates was informed of the mistake
Friday, two days after US officials began learning of the incident.
Gates ordered the immediate recovery of the items and they have
since been returned to US soil, said Ryan Henry, a principal deputy
undersecretary of defense.
President George W Bush was also alerted to the mistake on
Friday, he added.
Henry said the Chinese government was quickly told about the
shipment and that it did not represent a change in US policy beyond
arms already supplied to Taiwan for self-defence. Beijing regards
Taiwan as a breakaway province and has been irked by the US policy of
providing military equipment to Taiwan.
'Our policy on Taiwan arm sales have not changed,' Henry said.
'This specific incident was an error in process only and is not
indicative of our policies, which remain unchanged.'
The fuses are designed for use in Minuteman ballistic missiles
and are compatible only with their warheads. They send an electric
charge to the trigger that would begin a 'sequence of events'
leading to the detonation of a nuclear warhead, Lieutenant General
Carter Ham of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
'It sends a simple electrical signal to the weapons package,
which has its own triggering mechanism,' Ham said.
The Pentagon has initiated an inventory of all of the items to
ensure similar mistakes have not taken place, Henry said.
On-site inspections of the four containers indicated the
Taiwanese had not tampered with the devices or tried to glean
information about the fuses designed in the 1960s, Henry said.
Henry said Gates has been 'quite forceful' in ensuring there is a
complete investigation and that 'those who are responsible will be
held accountable.'
The items were first shipped from Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming,
in March 2005 to a warehouse at Hill Air Force Base in Utah
belonging to the Defence Logistics Agency, which coordinates foreign
military sales and eventually sent the parts to Taiwan.
The mistake marks the second time in less then a year security
procedures for handling nuclear components were breached. A B-52
bomber was accidently loaded with six nuclear bombs during an August
flight from Minot Air Force base in North Dakota to a Barksdale,
Louisiana base 1,200 kilometres away.
The B-52 was supposed to have been carrying 12 conventional bombs
but the flight crew failed to inspect the wing that was carrying the
nuclear weapons before the August 30 flight. Several Air Force
officers were relieved of their command for the error.
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