Nuclear weapons: an accident waiting to happen

In July 1956, a plane crashed in Suffolk, nearly detonating an atomic bomb. In January 1987, an RAF truck carrying hydrogen bombs skidded off a road in Wiltshire. Other near-misses remain top secret. Who is really at risk from Britain's nuclear weapons?

In October of 1983, Mick Jones had just left the Clash, Roger Moore was still playing James Bond, Ronald Reagan was in his third year as president of the US, Margaret Thatcher had recently gained a second term as prime minister – and the cold war had entered its most dangerous phase since the Cuban missile crisis.

An all-out nuclear exchange between the US, the Soviet Union and their allies seemed possible. That spring, Reagan had called the Soviets "the focus of evil in the modern world… an evil empire", and his administration was conducting an unprecedented military buildup during peacetime.

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