US mistakenly shipped nuclear warhead parts to Taiwan (Roundup)

Mar 25, 2008, 17:11 GMT

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.