Story

See Inside the Underground Bunker that Could Launch a Nuclear War

February 25, 2016 | PBS NewsHour
By
Daniel Sagalyn
B-52

Panorama of a B-52H bomber inside a hangar at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Inert training bombs sit on carts, at right, ready to be loaded onto the aircraft. These planes, first fielded in 1955, each can carry up to 70,000 lbs. of munitions. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Dummy bombs

These dummy bombs — used for practice mounting airplanes’ payload — lie on a platform inside an aircraft hangar, ready to be loaded into B-52H aircraft for training missions at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

B-52 tarmac

B-52H bomber on the tarmac at Minot Air Force base is sprayed down with de-icing fluid. Image by Jamie McIntyre. United States, 2016.

Jet flames

Flames and smoke burst from a B-52H’s aging jet engines, as they roar to life with the help of eight explosive charges. The method was developed during the Cold War to give the bomber a quick kick-start in a crisis. Image by Jamie McIntyre. United States, 2016.

Nuclear weapons controls

Air Force Capt. Margaret Ingerslew at the weapons controls of a B-52H bomber. This giant aircraft carries tons of munitions and fuel, but space for the crew is quite cramped. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Cruise missile controls

Air Force Capt. Margaret Ingerslew at the B-52H weapons controls, which launches cruise missiles and drop bombs. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Control capsule door

An eight-ton door must be opened to gain access to the missile-launch facility’s underground control capsule, which is buried 50 to 60 feet below the surface. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Launch control center

Right to left, PBS NewsHour special correspondent Jamie McIntyre with 1st Lt. Kathleen Fosterling and Deputy Missile Crew Commander 2nd Lt. Christina Camp, inside the underground nuclear launch-control center. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Underground chamber

Inside the underground chamber protected by the 8-ton blast door. Additional entrances help secure the nuclear launch-control personnel and equipment. Colorful paintings adorn the entranceway walls. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

Dragon painting

A fire-breathing dragon, fortress and ballistic missile are painted on the entranceway to an underground Minuteman III launch-control capsule, buried deep underground near Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Image by Dan Sagalyn. United States, 2016.

MINOT, N.D.—During the Cold War, the United States developed a vast nuclear arsenal with weapons on aircraft, submarines and land-based missiles. These three ways of delivering nuclear weapons became known as the triad, with the Soviet Union was the primary target.

The strategy was to deter an attack on the United States by having enough nuclear weapons that could survive a strike and retaliate.

Over the next three decades, the Pentagon plans to spend $1 trillion to rebuild the triad. Military commanders and civilian experts say nuclear weapons are used every day to deter a nuclear attack against the U.S. and that the current stockpile needs to be replaced because they are old. An example: the B-52H bombers began flying in the late 1950s early 1960s and are older than the crews that fly them.

But critics say the Defense Department is duplicating what it had during the cold war. Two leading critics, former defense secretary William Perry and former top nuclear commander Gen. James Cartwright (Ret.), say one leg of the triad—land-based nuclear tipped missiles—should be phased out.