Isles’ nuclear
weapons have
been moved out,
study finds

A 1992 survey said Hawaii
had 275 nuclear warheads; now
there are none to be found

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii, once believed to have stored as many as 275 nuclear weapons, no longer holds any at Lualualei or at West Loch in Pearl Harbor, according to an independent study.

It is not known when these nuclear weapons were moved out of the state, since it has always been the military's policy neither to confirm nor deny the storage of such weapons.

Even last week during an interview with the Star-Bulletin, Capt. Shawn Morrissey, commander of the Lualualei Naval Magazine, declined to discuss the issue.

The study, conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council and released earlier this year, ranked New Mexico first with 2,450 nuclear weapons; followed by Georgia with 2,000; Washington, 1,685; Nevada, 1,350; and North Dakota, 1,140. These top five states account for 70 percent of the total.

Other states with nuclear weapons are Wyoming, Missouri, Montana, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, California, Virginia and Colorado, the study said.

The study -- authored by William Arkin, Robert Norris and Joshua Handler -- was a follow-up to a 1992 survey that ranked Hawaii 17th with 275 nuclear warheads. That number was a drop from a high of 345 in 1985, when Hawaii ranked 14th.

At that time, 100 B-57 and B-61 nuclear free-fall bombs and 50 Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles warheads were believed to have been stored at Barbers Point Naval Air Station, and 125 nuclear warheads at the Naval Magazine at West Loch on the Waipio Peninsula in Pearl Harbor.

Norris told the Star-Bulletin that it is believed that most of the nuclear weapons were first moved from Hawaii to San Diego and then later consolidated in one location.

With the closure of Alaska and Hawaii's sites, the Naval Air Station in San Diego is "believed to be the only remaining nuclear storage depot supporting the Pacific Fleet," the study says.

But Norris believes that the storage of 325 Tomahawk cruise nuclear warheads are now split between the two coastal ammunition depots: Bangor Naval Submarine Base in Washington and Yorktown Naval Weapons Station near Norfolk, Va.

The Navy has eliminated nuclear-capable Tomahawk warheads from its surface warships, and there are no more free-fall bombs on its aircraft carriers, Norris added.

"And the Navy does not routinely send out its patrol submarines with nuclear-armed warheads," Norris added.

Since 1992, nuclear weapons have been withdrawn from 12 states, including Hawaii, according to the study.

In assessing the nuclear threat in five countries, the National Resource Defense Council said 36,000 nuclear bombs still remain in the arsenals of the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China.

Nuclear weapons storage sites State weapons 1. New Mexico 2,450 2. Georgia 2,000 3. Washington 1,685 4. Nevada 1,350 5. N. Dakota 1,140 6. Wyoming 592 7. Missouri 550 Montana 550 8. Louisiana 540 9. Texas 350 10. Nebraska 255 11. California 160 Virginia 160 12. Colorado 138 Overseas 150 Source: Natural Resources Defense Council