U.S. mistakenly sent nukes to Taiwan

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The US mistakenly sent nuclear missile components to Taiwan in 2006, the Pentagon revealed on Tuesday, marking the second big failure of safeguards on the US nuclear arsenal in recent years.

The Pentagon accidentally shipped four nose cones for the Minute Man missile instead of the helicopter batteries Taiwan had ordered.

The nose cones contain a fuse that sends a signal to the triggering system to start preparing the warhead for detonation. Defence officials said no fissile material had been shipped to Taiwan, but said they were taking the mistake seriously because it involved the US nuclear arsenal. The US embassy in Beijing informed the Chinese government, which views Taiwan as a renegade province, about the matter on Tuesday in advance of the Pentagon’s disclosure.

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