Wikipedia

Palomares, Almería: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎1966 B-52 crash: clean-up still partly outstanding
No edit summary
 
(39 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Short description|Town along the Mediterranean Sea in Andalusia, Spain}}
{{Location map+|Spain|width=200|float=right|caption=Spain|places=
{{Location map~|Spain |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=14|lat_sec=55 |lon_deg=1|lon_min=47|lon_sec=45 |label=Palomares|position=right}}
}}
'''Palomares''' is an agricultural, fishing, and tourist villagetown onalong the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the '''[[Almería (province)|Almería]]''' province of [[Andalusia]], [[Spain]]. It is about {{convert|20|m|0|abbr=off}} meters[[Above mean sea level|above sea level]]. The village falls within the municipality of [[Cuevas del Almanzora]].
 
The ruins of ''[[El Artial]]'' lie just outside the village.
 
==1966Crashes of a B-52 crashand a KC-135 in 1966==
{{mainMain|1966 Palomares B-52 crash}}
The town is noted for ana fatal incidentaccident in 1966 wherein which a [[B-52 Stratofortress]] of the [[Strategic Air Command]] crashed after a [[1966 Palomares B-52 crash|midair collision]] with a [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] plane, causing [[radiationradioactive contamination]] after its payload of nuclearfour [[hydrogen bomb]]s (H-bombs) was ruptureddispersed and crashed. There were four [[thermonuclear bombsweapon]]s in the planebomber. The high-explosive igniters onin two of these bombs detonated on impact, spreading radioactive material, including deadly [[plutonium-239]], over a wide area of the Spanish countryside, but safety mechanisms and electronics prevented nuclear explosions. AThe third H-bomb landed via [[parachute]] into a stream, where it was relatively intact and was recovered. The fourth H-bomb landed in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], and [[U.S. militaryNavy]] searchers took three months to find and recover the device intact. InA 2001large CIEMATamount detectedof highercontaminated levelsSpanish ofsoil was plutoniumsoon removed, uraniumpacked up, and americiumshipped thanacross averagethe overAtlantic 24for acresburial ofnear Palomares.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0[Barnwell,2933,218559,00.html "SpainSouth Carolina]], U.S.the Agreesite toof Radioactivitya Cleanuplarge 40installation Yearsof Afterthe Atomic Accident[[U."] ''Fox News'', 8 October 2006S. Retrieved:Atomic 23Energy September 2007Commission]].</ref>
 
In 2001, the [[Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas]] (CIEMAT) still detected measurable levels of the radioactive elements [[plutonium]], [[uranium]], and [[americium]] over {{convert|24|acres|ha|0|disp=flip}} of Palomares.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218559,00.html |title=Spain, U.S. Agree to Radioactivity Cleanup 40 Years After Atomic Accident |work=[[Fox News]] |date=8 October 2006 |access-date=23 September 2007 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=[[Fox News|FOX]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113135749/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218559,00.html |archive-date=13 November 2007}}</ref>
Annual monitoring by the US and Spain have found no evidence of health problems or contaminated food or water from the crash. Nevertheless, some areas remain contaminated and cannot be disturbed; although they are safely fenced off, the result is that the town is blighted, and has missed out on developments like those in nearby [[Marbella]]. {{As of|2012}}, Spain is asking the United States to finish cleaning up the area.<ref>{{cite news|title=Palomares bombs: Spain waits for US to finish nuclear clean-up|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18689132|accessdate=22 October 2012|newspaper=BBC|date=22 October 2012|author=Gerry Hadden}}</ref>
 
Annual monitoring by American and Spanish researchers has found no evidence of health problems, or of any contaminated food or water resulting from these crashes. Nevertheless, some areas remain contaminated and they cannot be disturbed. Although they are fenced off for safety, the result is that the region is economically blighted, and it has missed out on tourist developments like those in most other coastal towns. On 19 October 2015, Spain and the United States signed a statement of intent to discuss further cleanup of this area. Eventually, the United States agreed to remove additional contaminated soil from Palomares to a safe burial site in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Spain, US sign new accord to study further cleanup work after 1966 nuclear accident |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/19/spain-us-sign-new-accord-on-nuclear-accident-clean-up-plan |author=AP |author-link=Associated Press |work=[[US News]] |date=19 October 2015 |access-date=19 October 2015 |location=Madrid}}</ref>
 
The crashes are explored by American author [[Charles Bukowski]] in his short story "Politics is like Trying to Screw a Cat in the Ass".
 
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
 
{{Authority control}}
 
{{coordCoord|37|14|55|N|1|47|45|W |region:ES_type:city |name=Palomares |display=title}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palomares, Almeria}}
[[Category:Populated places in the Province of Almería]]
[[Category:Towns in Spain]]
[[Category:Radioactively contaminated areas]]
{{Almería-geo-stub}}▼
 
 
[[ca:Palomares]]
▲{{Almería-geo-stub}}
[[de:Palomares]]
[[es:Palomares]]
[[eo:Palomares]]
[[gl:Palomares, Almería]]
[[it:Palomares]]
[[pl:Palomares]]
[[fi:Palomares]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomares,_Almería"