" On 7 June 1960 , an explosion in a helium tank between the missile 's fuel tanks took place in Shelter 204 causing a fire in a liquid-fueled , nuclear-tipped BOMARC missile . The fire burned uninhibited for about 30 minutes . Firefighting activities , using water as a suppressant , were conducted for 15 hours . As a result , materials from the shelter flowed under the front shelter doors , down the asphalt apron and street between the row of shelters , and into the drainage ditch " . " Contamination was restricted to an area immediately beneath the weapon and an adjacent elongated area approximately 100 feet long " . A nuclear response team from Griffiss Air Force Base found " no trace of dispersed radiation " during spot checks " outside the facility 's boundaries " for . Approximately of WGP was not recovered , " A significant fraction of the radiological material contained in the weapon was shipped … to Medina Base , San Antonio TX " and then to Amarillo . According to the Trenton Times , “ In June 1987 , traces of a radioactive substance used in nuclear warheads ( americium-241 related to plutonium ) were found about one-half mile from the site . " In a 1992 report , the Air Force wrote that the missile launcher from Shelter 204 had been removed from the shelter shortly after the accident , and that no records about the manner of disposal of the missile launcher existed . They found five anomalous areas which could represent the buried launcher . From 1999-2000 the USGS sampled and tested the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer with shallow ground water and sediment for radionuclides . No manmade radionuclide was present in the well-bottom sediments , or unfiltered or filtered water samples . From April 2002 through May 27 , 2004 , of " contaminated debris and soils were packaged , shipped , and disposed " at Clive , Utah ; the remains of the shelter were removed . In 2005 , the contaminated area was estimated as 7 acres and ~ were additionally remediated by 2007 . The 1972 RW-01 perimeter fence with height topped with barbed wire was extended by 2007 to include a larger area on the south . A 2013 study compared the characteristics of the accident 's particle release with the nuclear warhead dispersals of the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash and 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash
1966 Palomares B-52 crash
1966 Palomares B-52 crash
BOMARC Missile Accident Site