European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday september 30, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 atomic material constantly in transit documents describe living organism by Rich Ardc. Cross Washington up the car daily transport of nuclear weapons and their radioactive components across the nation and the oceans has created a living organism of atomic material constantly on the move according to documents and a defense expert. The air Force s military Airlift come flying a i and c-i30 transports from two bases in the United Stales and one in Germany is the prime mover of nuclear weapons warheads and heir parts in what Are called Hully beef express missions documents showed. Also involved in the Transfer of nuclear materials chiefly missiles for the resupply of . Submarines based at holy Loch Scotland Are three ships assigned to the Navy i military Califi come that Are crewed by civilians. Pentagon sources and defense experts said. Two of them the Marshfield and the Vega operate out of the submarine basis at Charleston. , and King Bay ga., they said. Ai of december 1984, the last year for which documents were available 62,004 people nearly All of them in the military were certified through the defense department s nuclear weapon reliability program As physically and mentally competent to transport nuclear materials. Bui in that same year. 3,042 of them were Deberti fied and discharged from the responsibility of handling nuclear weapons and their components 160 of them for negligence or delinquency in performance of duly a Pentagon document showed. The statistics Only document gave no indication of How they were negligent. Fully a third of them 1,007 were discharged because of drug abuse. Mostly of marijuana the document said. The Pentagon and air Force documents most of them unclassified were obtained through the Freedom of information act by William Arkin. A nuclear weapons expert for 12 years who works for the Institute of policy studies a foundation supported Liberal enter prise in Washington. The documents information runs counter to a widely held Assumption that nuclear capable missiles bombs mines and demolitions their warheads and the plutonium. Tritium and other components of atomic explosives generally Are out of sight in underground silos Benoni a the seas in submarines or on military bases Ond ships. Most people conceive of the nuclear Arsenal safely secured away and bothering no one Arkin said in an interview. In reality the warheads require constant care and feuding and Upkeep and movement. Rather than being a passive activity it s a living organism that s constantly on the  nevertheless documents indicate there is strict at Tention to Security safety and the reliability of inc people who handle nuclear materials. Regulations de Tail now to ensure the materials will not he captured by terrorists or others including five Point instruction on How to destroy the weapons by burning the aircraft with the weapons on  of you Are met with a hostile Force you Are authorized to use deadly Force