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US nuclear weapons in Germany considered insecure

American nuclear weapons in Europe, including at a base in Germany, are being stored in unsafe conditions, according to a report of the Federation of American Scientists.

US nuclear weapons in Germany considered insecure
An archive photo of peace protests in Germany. Photo:DPA

The US military commissioned the report last year after six nuclear warheads were flown across the states without the knowledge of the air force top brass.

Yet now it seems even the Pentagon’s minimum standards of safety are not being met at bases across Europe.

The US authorities are likely to concentrate the warheads at fewer bases, which would then be updated, the scientists suggested in their report, which is featured in several German newspapers today.

One of the problematic bases is thought to be the German air force base Fliegerhorst Büchel, near Cochem-Zell in Rhineland-Palatinate, where around 20 nuclear warheads are stored.

Some of the buildings examined by the scientists were said to be unstable, while in one case conscripted soldiers who only had nine months of training were being used to guard the buildings to prevent the warheads being stolen.

The scientists estimate there are between 200 and 350 warheads stored in Europe, in bases in Belgium, UK, Italy, Turkey and Holland as well as Germany.