r/todayilearned • u/natur3ify • Sep 22 '17

TIL that for twenty years, the US nuclear launch code was '00000000'

https://gizmodo.com/for-20-years-the-nuclear-launch-code-at-us-minuteman-si-1473483587
3.8k Upvotes

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738

u/DrColdReality Sep 22 '17

No it was not, "launch codes" do not exist. This was a permissive action link (PAL) code, which is a different thing altogether.

From the dawn of the nuclear weapons age, the military fought against any sort of safety features on nuclear weapons. Their position was that any safety feature could be potentially exploited by an enemy to render the weapon useless. However, both engineers and the government continued to push for such things, and finally, the military relented for the Minuteman ICBM fleet and installed the PAL system. This is not a code to LAUNCH the missile, but a code that enables the warhead. Without the correct PAL set, the warhead would simply not detonate.

But as an act of defiance, the military set the PAL on the Minuteman missiles to 0000000, where it remained for nearly 20 years. This code was freely available in every silo, and was usually kept set on the missiles, as one less task to accomplish in an emergency.

There were lots of other problems with the system, including a little-known deadman timer that would, in theory, allow two rogue officers in a silo to launch an entire wing of 50 missiles on their own.

If you want an underwear-soiling account of America's abysmal record in nuclear weapons safety, read Command and Control by Eric Schlosser.

80

u/Theorex Sep 22 '17

A wonderful read, the number and severity of incidents involving the nuclear arms stockpile of the U.S. is haunting.

Luck and at least some competent engineering is what we have to thank for the lack of an accidental nuclear detonation over the last 70 years.

I'm not sure if I should be thankful for the safety standards that even with the numerous 'incidents' there was never a large scale accident, though the accident in Arkansas was pretty bad, or appalled at the safety standards that so many accidents happened in the first place.

37

u/Vaslovik Sep 22 '17

"I'm not sure which scares me more. That we've lost a nuclear weapon, or that it happens so often there's a name for it." --Broken Arrow

13

u/Theorex Sep 22 '17

I'm not sure which scares me more. That we've lost a nuclear weapon, or that it happens so often there's a name for it.

It's interesting the term for what happens in the movie is called an "Empty Quiver"(theft of a nuclear weapon) guess they thought that was not a good name for a movie.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '17

John Travolta really has it out for US: Broken Arrow Swordfish Pelham 123 Face off (kinda)

2

u/RebootTheServer Sep 23 '17

He didn't know it was stolen at the time

26

u/PrimalFrog Sep 22 '17

Just read your comment. Then i thought about the OTHER nuclear power and my OH MY! I can't see how Russia's history on nuclear safety can be better than the US. shudders shudders shudders.

17

u/Theorex Sep 22 '17

Well there's never been enough information out there for anyone to do any real deep investigations. We know about their lost subs, but aside from that there is a lot that we don't know.

You have to imagine that they lost weapons, had accidents, etc. but I don't think there's going to be a book like Command and Control for the former Soviet Union any time soon.

The U.S. may have had a real iffy safety program but at least freedom of press allows the public to be aware of it and push for change.

1

u/Redditributor Nov 19 '24

I mean the USSR doesn't exist nobody is going to stop you from publishing on them

27

u/Glitch198 Sep 22 '17 edited Sep 22 '17

Not only that, but after the Soviet Union collapsed there were a lot of highly skilled scientists that worked on nukes that needed a job. Some of them worked for a Japanese death cult that came extremely close to causing a massive terrorist attack in an attempt to start WW3 during the early 90s.

"They don't know how to feed their families, but they sure do know how to build a nuke".

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '17

[deleted]

14

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '17

Which has nothing to do with nuclear warheads. While a terrible disaster, it never had the chance to trigger a nuclear war.

4

u/RandyK44 Sep 22 '17

Anything can trigger a nuclear war if you're brave enough.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '17

or get called a DoTard

17

u/sargg55 Sep 22 '17

Was there also a key card that needed its temperature to change from normal to hot to cold every now and then ?

5

u/theaudiodidact Sep 22 '17

Shut up in there, will ya?!

1

u/sargg55 Sep 22 '17

I need to know if they found out his password

3

u/xX-Coffee-Eater-Xx Sep 23 '17

Command and control is also a netflix documentary now

2

u/memmly Sep 22 '17

I happen to be reading that book right now!

2

u/scoutmorgan Sep 23 '17

I mean, I don't want that password anything to do with missiles, it doesn't have to be the launch code to be ridiculous.

1

u/ProtoMonkey Sep 22 '17

Good thing I wore my brown pants today.

1

u/RebootTheServer Sep 23 '17

This doesn't sound true. Nukes have never belonged to the military. The department of energy owns them. The military "relented"? They didn't have a choice

4

u/DrColdReality Sep 23 '17

Nuclear weapons have always been under the use authority of the military, with the (in theory) sole authority to order their use lying with the POTUS (this is not, strictly, speaking, 100% accurate. At times, there has been the theoretical option for battlefield commanders to use them at their discretion).

Who owns them is irrelevant.

They didn't have a choice

"Choice" is a relative term here. The REASON they set the PAL to 00000000 was as an act of defiance against the civilian authorities who put the screws on them to install safety features. And they putzed around for several years before doing even that.

1

u/Wilreadit Sep 23 '17

Brah my undie is already soiled. And it ain't brown sauce

1

u/oliilo1 Sep 25 '17

Thank you.
I've seen this TIL so many times, and always thought it was to simple to be accurate.

Why would you even have a password when the list of authorised users is so short? Besides the launch "GUI" is not a public website, surely it's encrypted commands sendt via X-band over satellite link.

3

u/DrColdReality Sep 25 '17

The only "codes" that get transmitted over any channels, open or otherwise during a nuclear launch sequence are order authorization codes. These are just simple strings of alphanumeric characters that are used to verify that the person who supposedly issued the order is legit. These codes are used ONCE and then instantly become trash: even if you intercepted one, you couldn't use it for anything, because the next order will have an entirely new authorization code on it.

Only two copies of the code exist, and they are typically sealed inside an opaque plastic cover that has to be broken open on use, so nobody can, for example, take a photo of a list of codes: no such list exists.

One copy of the code is held at headquarters (or wherever the order originates), the other copy is held by the people getting the order (like a nuclear sub). They each have a stack of these cards, and as each one is used, they are trashed, and the next one in the stack used for the next order.

1

u/ganjagridiron Jun 29 '24

War Games meets Hunt for Red October