AMARILLO, TEXAS -- The very last B53 nuclear bomb was dismantled Tuesday at the Pantex plant in Amarillo.
The 1960's era weapon has officially been removed from the United States arsenal.
It's a milestone towards one of the goals that President Obama set during his 2009 speech in Prague.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment and shows the first step on the way to the realization of President Obama's vision, of a world without nuclear weapons," said Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman.
Poneman says he is honored he got to be part of this milestone accomplishment and the disassembly of the last B53.
"I cannot begin to describe the difference between writing about all the acronyms of arms control and start treaties and solve treaties and actually being in there with these professionals as they actually crank apart the high explosive that surrounds the pit."
Back in the 1960's when there was the prospect of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, Poneman says a large bomb like that one made sense.
"Now when we no longer have that same prospect, what the president tends to make clear, that our highest nuclear priorities are to stop nuclear terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation. There is no mission space any longer for a weapon of that character."
The actual inert non-nuclear weapon that was used to train the technicians, who actually dismantled the B53 bomb, was also in attendance.
"In preparing for the dismantlement of the B53 campaign they actually talked to some of the designers who were involved in this weapon which entered in the arsenal in 1962."
Poneman says they always do two things.
One, make sure their people are trained at the highest level of technical excellence that supports safety.
And two, make sure their people understand the legacy of what has gone before them. The pit of the bomb will now go from Amarillo to Y-12. Which is where they carry out their operation on highly enriched uranium.
