Based on the critically acclaimed book by Eric Schlosser (FAST FOOD NATION) and directed by Robert Kenner, COMMAND AND CONTROL is a minute-by-minute account of one of the most serious accidents in the history of the US nuclear weapons program. In September, 1980, a worker at a Titan II missile complex accidentally dropped a socket wrench, puncturing the fuel tank of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead in the US arsenal. Kenner brings this incident to life with stunning original footage shot in a decommissioned Titan II missile silo. Eyewitness accounts — from the man who dropped the socket, to the man who designed the warhead, to the Secretary of Defense— chronicle nine hours of terror during which the Air Force sought to prevent an explosion potentially far more powerful than Hiroshima.
The Project on Managing the Atom, in conjunction with WGBH’s American Experience, will hold this screening on November 21st at 6:30 PM in the Wiener Auditorium, followed by a discussion with Eric Schlosser, author of Command and Control, Matthew Bunn, Professor of Practice at HKS, and BG Kevin Ryan (USA retired), Director of the Defense and Intelligence Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Martin Malin, Executive Director of the Project on Managing the Atom, will moderate the discussion. You can view the trailer for the movie here. Food and drink will be provided.
