Scientists have reported possible damage to a US nuclear bomb in the Netherlands

This is reported by The Guardian with reference to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

The Federation noted that they have photos of the damaged bomb at their disposal. In the picture, it is checked by sappers.

The photo was discovered by chance in a presentation for students who are looking for a job at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. This laboratory is one of the centers for the production of nuclear weapons in the United States.

Scientists have found out that this image was taken at an airbase

"Folkel". It is one of six European air bases that currently store about 100 B61 bombs.

Scientists note that they have no official confirmation that the photo was taken there. In addition, there is no information whether the bomb is real or a dummy, as well as whether the damage on this weapon that occurred as a result of the incident is real, or it was made for training, said FAS spokesman Hans Christensen.

According to him, if scientists confirm the authenticity of the image, then this precedent will be the first documented case of a nuclear weapons incident at European air bases.

As the newspaper notes, any such incidents are kept classified as "secret". The representative of the US Air Force in Europe did not directly comment to the publication on the information about the discovered photo, referring to the fact that the information is classified.

The publication notes that this nuclear bomb is the only example of an American tactical nuclear weapon. Now it has been upgraded to B61-12. New weapons are planned to be deployed in Europe. Now there are about 100 bombs on the continent. They are located in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey. These countries, as well as Greece, are training to place them on planes and fly with them. In the event of a threat, these weapons are planned to be used on alliance aircraft. These scenarios are worked out annually during the Steadfast Noon exercises. The last time these exercises were held in November last year.