After India’s Operation Sindoor, rumors of nuclear leakage in Pakistan’s Grocery Hills caught people’s attention. The International Nuclear Energy Agency said that there was no leakage from any nuclear facility in Pakistan. But these reports increased the curiosity of people about the Atomic Armed Storage Facility built in the mountains. How are such places and are they safe from normal missile attacks?
Why use mountains?
It is now common to make underground facility (UGF) for nuclear weapons in the mountains. The reason for this is that these facilities are hidden in the mountains and it is difficult to destroy them. Also, due to modern technology and strong concrete, it has become easier to make such tunnels.
The mountains naturally give a thick protective layer, called overburdons. These places are usually far-flung and low population. The igneous rocks found in the mountains (which are made from volcanoes) are stronger than the sedimentary rocks of the plains. That is why they provide better protection from the attacks. Agnay and metacedmentary (rigid rocks) are also found in the grocery hills.
What happens inside them?
The rocks of the mountains protect against earthquakes or landslides. Nevertheless, techniques such as rock bolting are used to further strengthen the tunnels, so that rocks do not fall after the attack. The walls of these features are made of thick concrete and natural rocks, which can be hundreds of feet thick. They consist of many tunnels and entry-nicas gates, which are protected from strong, anti-explosion doors.
The temperature and moisture of the mountains remain stable, which is suitable for protecting explosives and electronics used in nuclear weapons. These features contain advanced air, temperature control and filter systems, which protect weapons from contaminants. There are also systems like backup generators for electricity.
Mountains protect weapons from external radiation (such as cosmic rays). The weapons are kept in special chests, which are a short distance from each other so that there is no threat from neutron emissions. Monitoring of neutron emissions reveals arms conditions. These emissions are caused by the core of arms (which are made from plutonium-239 or uranium-235).
Such facilities consist of hiding, continuous operation, strong security, communication system and surrounding air defense. For example, the Grocery Hills has a Mushaf base of the Pakistan Air Force.
Are they completely safe?
It is very difficult to destroy such facilities with normal weapons. In the 2000s, US studies showed that such facilities can be damaged only by closing their entrances. That is why America started work on earth-piercing nuclear weapons, but it was later stopped.
The rocks of the mountains can bear explosion and shaking. Deep storage chests are out of reach of normal weapons, such as the US GBU-57 bunker-boss (which can distinguish 60m concrete). The mountains reduce the pressure and heat of the explosion, so that the direct or nearby attack cannot cause much damage.
For example, a 200–300 kg BrahMos missile warhead cannot cause much damage to such a feature. It can only break the entrance to light damage or local rocks. Its shocks cannot reach deep vaults. If there are adequate strength and backup systems in the convenience, then such an attack can only cause temporary blockage.
What can be the worst situation?
Traditional attacks are very less likely to cause nuclear emergency. For this, it is necessary to fulfill many unlucky conditions. Still, what can happen if this happens?
Nuclear weapons require very special circumstances to explode, which are not made by normal shaking. If the weapon is damaged, it cannot initiate uncontrolled chain reaction.
In older weapons, which contain high amounts of plutonium-240, the risk of getting a small explosion in the damaged core is very low. The possibility of this happening in nearby weapons is negligible, until the preservation fails and the weapons are very close.
More potential (but still little) The danger is that the traditional explosives present in old weapons start.
These can explode with shocks, heat or effect. This will not cause a nuclear explosion, but may spread radioactive materials, such as in the 1966 Palomaras accident, where two weapons explosives spread plutonium in an area of 558 acres.
In such a situation, the mountain can prevent most radioactive materials, so that the environment is not damaged. Boron powder can be sprayed to control it, which absorbs neutrons and reduces radioactivity.
It is natural to worry in the atmosphere of war, but it is very difficult and complex to have a nuclear accident in such a strong underground facility – it is more unlikely than rumors.
– Sourav Jha
(The author is the founder of the Delhi Defense Review, the idea expressed in the article is the author.)
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