[flying Elvis]

Conway's letter does not elaborate on what might have happened if the explosive had detonated. LOL

[U S Army EOD]

Basically not very much. It would have killed the guys next to it and the pit would have been blown around a bit but it would be a long way from the end of the world. Everything would have been contained in the facility.

We have had quite a few nukes come to earth inside of burning B52's, B47's, B58's and a few cargo planes. We are still here and the mess was cleaned up.

[cynwoody]

Conway's letter does not elaborate on what might have happened if the explosive had detonated.

LOL

Except on test ranges, all US nukes are supposed to be "one point safe". The criterion of one point safety is satisfied if, given that detonation of the warhead's high explosives has taken place at any one point, there is less than one chance in a million of obtaining a nuclear yield exceeding that equivalent to four pounds of HE.

To obtain a nuclear yield, a number of the famous lens shaped charges must be fired simultaneously to form a spherical implosion wave that compresses the plutonium core, increasing its density very suddenly, to satisfy the conditions for a chain reaction. If the charges don't go off at exactly the same time, you don't get a properly shaped shock wave, and the result is a nasty industrial accident instead of a wiped out city.