My experience is with reactor plants, not nuclear weapons. "Missile techs" take care of the missiles, and know all about them. We simply measured neutron levels near the warheads on a weekly basis. The missile compartment, which contained the missile tubes, was called "Sherwood forrest".

Re: "There is no weapon system in the US arsenal with the operational risks of a Trident submarine. No weapon has as much explosive material, in the form of solid rocket propellant, and the number of nuclear warheads tightly packed in a confined vessel."

True. It's not a toy.

Re: "came within inches of a live nuclear warhead."

I think the reporter doesn't understand how a warhead operates. His use of the word "live" seems to imply that it could have blown, which is untrue. It may've been damaged the warhead, but it wouldn't explode.

Re: "All missile handling operations at the Strategic Weapons Facility were stopped for nine weeks until Bangor could be recertified for handling nuclear weapons."

As they should be.

Re: "The top three commanders were dismissed."

This should make readers feel better. The Navy doesn't accept excuses. Screw up and you're gone. That's the way it was when I was there, and the way it should be. Compare this to the Intelligence failures associated with 9/11, where *nobody* lost their job:

http://radified.com/911/

Re: "The critical issue at the Bangor Explosives Handling Wharf in November 2003 was not how close the ladder had come to the nuclear warhead, but instead, how close it had come to the third stage rocket motor."

Okay, this makes more sense. They might be onto something. But the missile isn't going anywhere without a rocket.

Re: "The Space Shuttle program is similar in complexity to the Trident submarine system."

NASA runs the shuttle program, not the Navy. Notice that, while there have been many shuttle accidents, there have been almost no comparable nuclear weapons accidents. The statistics speak for themselves. And people like Milner are actually good for the program's safety.

I was stationed at Bangor for a couple of years and lived in Bremerton for a while, while we wee in the shipyard there. Beautiful part of the country. Nice people.

Yes, there are risks involved with nuclear weapons systems.