Goldsboro nuclear accident: full transcription
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Get the dossier: $5 instant download →When it hit the ground, it tried to fire. There was still one safety device that had not operated. And that one safety device was the pre-arming switch which is operated by a 28 volt signal.
Some people could say, hey, the bomb worked exactly like designed. Others can say, all but one switch operated, and that one switch prevented the nuclear detonation.
Unfortunately there had been some 30-some incidents where the ready-safe switch was operated inadvertently. We're fortunate that the weapons involved at Goldsboro were not suffering from that same malady.
With respect to fully assembled and combat-ready nuclear weapons, the United States could not claim, in an absolute sense, that we take every action to ensure their safety.
This transcription covers the core technical findings from the original February 1961 Sandia report and a related later Sandia safety review. Additional documents released by the National Security Archive in 2014 and 2022 provide further technical detail on the fuzing sequence and the specific switch's broader failure history.
Report: Sandia National Laboratories, internal report on the January 24, 1961 Goldsboro accident. Declassified 2013-2022.
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