US Nuclear Weapons in Europe - Natural Resources Defense Council

U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe • Hans M. Kristensen/Natural Resources Defense Council, 2005
Figure 4:
Weapon Storage Vault Loading
Demonstration
Loading demonstration of two B61 bomb shapes into the top bay
of a Weapons Storage Vault (WSV) at Sandia National
Laboratories. Notice the tailfins of the two bombs hanging in
opposite directions, enabling storage of two weapons in each bay.
Source: Sandia National Laboratories. 14
Over time, due to the cancellation and closure of some sites, the geographical distribution
of the WS3 system in Europe has changed from a predominantly northern European one
to a system where the sites in the southern region represent a gradually increasing share
of the total system. Even today, however, a decade and a half after the Soviet Union
collapsed, nearly two-thirds of the WS3 capacity is located in northern Europe (see Table
5).
According to the U.S. Air Force, the storage of nuclear weapons inside aircraft hangars is
an improved storage process to the previously used method of centralized storage in
WSAs. “The concept of decentralized (dispersal) and co-locating the weapon(s) with the
aircraft enhances survivability, safety, security, and operational availability while
reducing the overall intelligence signature.” 15
Obviously, bringing nuclear weapons into hangars in close proximity with aircraft fuel
and conventional munitions raises a whole other set of security issues. Two sizes of
shelters have been equipped with the WSV system, a larger PAS measuring 37.5 x 23
meters and a smaller 32.5 x 17 meters shelter. Many of the nuclear bases have a mix of
the two types of shelters, but RAF Lakenheath alone has larger shelters. Most national
bases only have the small shelters. To ensure separation of nuclear weapons from
flammable or explosive materials, the WSV must always be closed under normal
16