Toxins lurked in US Air Force's nuclear missile capsules, many of the crew have cancer: Report

Washington

The US Air Force had said that its nuclear missile capsules, which have been in operation for decades, were safe. However, many of the crew who worked on these missiles since the 1960s have cancer, the news agency Associated Press reported on Friday (Dec 29), citing documents. As per the documents, some of the toxic risks in these capsules included a large pool of dark liquid festering on the floor, no fresh air, and asbestos readings 50 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety standards.

On Dec 30, 2001, an air force investigation found that the workplace (capsules) was free of health hazards. However, the documents, which date back to the 1980s, tell a far different story from what the air force said when reports of cancer among service members started to emerge. 

“Sometimes, illnesses tend to occur by chance alone,” a follow-up 2005 Air Force review found, the report said, adding that the capsules were again under scrutiny.

Hundreds of missileers diagnosed with cancer

Earlier in January, the Associated Press reported that at least nine current or former nuclear missile officers, also called missileers, had been diagnosed with the blood cancer non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Following this news, hundreds of others came forward self-reporting cancer diagnoses. 

In response, the air force launched its most sweeping review to date and tested thousands of air, water, soil and surface samples in all of the facilities where the service members worked. The report further said that four current samples came back with unsafe levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

PCBs are a known carcinogen used in electrical wiring. Current missileers told the news agency they were concerned by the new reports but believed the air force was being transparent in its search for toxins.

“Whenever you hear ‘cancer’ it’s a little concerning,” said Lt. Joy Hawkins, 23, a missileer at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Lt. Samantha McGlinchey, another missileer at the base said, "There’s more testing, things to come, cleanup efforts."

More data is expected early next year. The air force has already been working on an official count of how many current or former missile community service members have cancer.

The warning signs

At present, there are three nuclear missile bases in the US: F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Minot, and Malmstrom. Each of these bases has 15 underground launch capsules that are manned around the clock.

There have been plenty of warnings about past toxic risks in the documents obtained by AP. The report said that an environmental team at Malmstrom base's capsules Hotel and Juliet got worrisome asbestos readings from underneath a generator in the capsule equipment rooms which are also underground within the same sealed-in workplace.

The EPA's threshold for asbestos exposure is 1% for an eight-hour workday. But missileers were locked in there for 24 hours at a time, at least. If the weather was bad and the replacement crew couldn’t make the drive to the site, a team could be stuck underground for as long as three days.

Both Hotel and Juliet capsules recorded solid samples of chrysotile asbestos. However, in the official report, the risks were downplayed. 

“Asbestos presents a health hazard only when it is crushed (able to be crushed or pulverized by hand pressure.) All suspect (asbestos) was found to be in good condition,” an annual review of the Hotel said.

All of these capsules would shut in a few years as the new gigantic ICBM called the Sentinel would come online. The old capsules would be demolished and a new, modern underground control centre would be built on top of them. 

Air force teams working on the new designs are privy to the cancer reports and would apply modern environmental health standards in the new centre, said Maj. Gen. John Newberry, commander of the air force’s nuclear weapons centre.

(With inputs from agencies)