This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

Workers at the decommissioned nuclear power establish Fukushima Daiichi take reported finding an unexploded bomb at a parking lot undergoing maintenance. The bomb (or flop-like object) is reportedly 33 inches long and 6 inches in bore. It is not clear if those dimensions refer to the entirety of the object, or only a segment of it. There'due south reference to what may be a stabilizer on the tail, but this could also mean that the tail, alone, matches the metrics listed above. The 1,000 lb bombs we dropped on Nihon were a bit longer at roughly 8 inches, only some of the bomb could have cleaved off or not been uncovered yet.

Finding unexploded WW2 munitions is practically a pastime in certain parts of the world. In 2022, structure workers edifice a route expansion project found a whopping 902 bombs underneath a unmarried restaurant in Okinawa. Workers are required to use metallic detectors before working in an expanse to make certain it's gratis of explosives. In 2005, a one-ton bomb some 2 feet in diameter forced the evacuation of 7,000 people from Tokyo. At that place were also much smaller bombs weighing 4-6 pounds that were used as incendiary devices and dropped in clusters. Reports suggest that betwixt 1,400 to 3,000 munitions were constitute per year in Nihon as of 2005, and that this had been the case for decades.

Volcano

What's next? Volcanic lava lake?

That this latest discovery happened at Fukushima, specifically, makes the state of affairs that much richer. After beingness destroyed past the i-two dial of an earthquake and tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi plant would seem to have suffered enough. Nonetheless, if workers may have plant unexploded munitions in the surface area, information technology raises the question of what, exactly, sets off munitions in the commencement place, if earthquakes don't.

One possible factor is age, which can make unexploded ordnance more dangerous, not less. If the explosive device remains intact, it may explode if jarred or disturbed. Compounds similar Picratol, which was used in some US-built WW2 aerial bombs, was considered more sensitive than TNT to certain kinds of disturbance. Information technology's also slightly less stable, though data on which chemical compound was less stable over decades is difficult to come up by.

Some of you may recall the decease of Dr. Arzt on Lost as an example of how unstable dynamite tin be after decades in a humid environment. While this is a Television set evidence dramatization rather than an actual outcome, information technology's not far off the mark in how unsafe old explosives can be. The universal recommendation, in all cases, is to call for bomb experts and retreat to a safe distance if you lot even call up you've plant a bomb.

Lest you believe this isn't a problem in places like the United States, live munitions dating to the Civil War era were found as recently every bit July 20. The Boston Globe reports that 2 live Civil War-era shells were plant in the Carlisle Library, having apparently been donated (!) as part of a collection in 1916. Over fourth dimension, the shells were simply forgotten until being redisdcovered. They were detonated by bomb experts.

The fact that all this is happening at Fukushima adds a whimsical chip of insult to injury, but the take chances is no laughing thing. Recollect kids, alive munitions aren't funny, unless you manage to blow up a clown.

Feature image is of the IAEA investigating the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.