The Nuclear Accident Thread

[rhinochopig]

The Cherenkov thread mentioned the Beryllium - Plut pit accident in the 40s, which reminded me of the Navy reactor / nuclear safety lectures I sat through a few years ago.

The one that always fascinated me - probably because it was so gory - was the SL-1 accident. I won't spoil the story, but whilst googling for some further info on the event I found this cool film made at the time. Pour yourself a cup of tea / coffee and immerse yourself in the US nuclear programme in the 50s Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuurrrrrrr

http://www.archive.org/details/gov.ntis.A13886VNB1


So post your stories about how unsafe the evil world of nuclear is

[dudleybloke]

Theres a very good documentary called nuclear 911 thats well worth a watch (google should be able to help).
Narrated by the legendary William shatner too.............. which is nice!

[llewop]

rhinochopig said:

the Navy reactor / nuclear safety lectures I sat through a few years ago.

The one that always fascinated me - probably because it was so gory - was the SL-1 accident.

I probably sat through the same/similar lectures! SL-1 is an interesting one, especially with one of the theories of why it happened - as I was telling a couple of colleagues just the other day!

[Tango13]

SL-1, that'll be the Idaho Falls accident then? I've got a book about it at home, i'll post up details of the book later. I'm not sure how accurate the book is but it seems to be very well researched.

The parts relating to the examination and disposal of the three bodies is very macabre.

[rhinochopig]

Tango13 said:

SL-1, that'll be the Idaho Falls accident then? I've got a book about it at home, i'll post up details of the book later. I'm not sure how accurate the book is but it seems to be very well researched.

The parts relating to the examination and disposal of the three bodies is very macabre.

Indeed they were handled like spent fuel rods.

Here's another couple. First is a biggie, and somewhat embarrassing for the US. Second is debatable as to the authenticity.

January 21, 1968, Thule, Greenland

Four nuclear bombs were destroyed in a fire after the B-52 bomber carrying them crashed approximately seven miles southwest of the runway at Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. The B-52, from Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York, crashed after a fire broke out in the navigator's compartment. The pilot was en route to Thule AFB to attempt an emergency landing. Upon impact with the ground, the plane burst into flames, igniting the high explosive outer coverings of at least one of the bombs. The explosive then detonated, scattering plutonium and other radioactive materials over an area about 300 yards on either side of the plane's path, much of it in "cigarette box-sized" pieces.


The bomber had been flying the Arctic Circle route as part of the Strategic Air Command's continuous airborne alert operation, code-name "Chrome Dome." One crew member was killed in the crash.


The government of Denmark, which owns Greenland and prohibits nuclear weapons on or over its territory, issued a strong protest following large demonstrations in that country. A few days after the crash, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered the removal of nuclear weapons from airborne alert. The alerts themselves were later curtailed and then suspended altogether.


February 1958, Greenham Common Airbase, England

A B-47 bomber experiencing engine trouble during takeoff jettisoned two full 1,700 gallon fuel tanks from an altitude of 8,000 feet, which missed a designated safe impact area and exploded 65 feet behind a parked B-47 loaded with nuclear weapons. The resulting fire burned for 16 hours and caused the high explosives package of at least one weapon to explode. The explosion released radioactive material, including powdered uranium and plutonium oxides, at least 10 to 20 grams of which were found off base. An adjacent hangar was also severely damaged, and other planes nearby had to be hosed down to prevent their ignition by the intense heat fueled by the jet propellant and magnesium in the B-47. The fire killed two people, injured eight others, and destroyed the bomber.


The Air Force has never officially admitted that nuclear weapons were involved in this accident. The Air Force and British Ministry of Defence agreed in 1956 to deny the existence of nuclear weapons in any accident involving U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in England. In 1985, the British government reported that the accident involved a parked B-47 that was struck by a taxiing B-47 on a training exercise, omitting any mention of the ensuing fire.

[Tango13]

I've got a very good book at home about the B-36 bomber, one chapter is devoted to first hand accounts from the crew who flew and maintained the 'Peacemaker'

One of the accounts is by a pilot who managed to accidentally drop not one but two atomic weapons, the second time was a few years after he had lost the first.

The AEC inspector who turned up to investigate the second incident was the same chap who investigated the first. His first words to the pilot were, 'Christ not you again!'

What was the quote from the President about the USAF losing H bombs? Something like...

'I'm not sure what worries me more, the fact that they lose H bombs or the fact that it happens so often they have code words for it!'

[mko9]

That was actually a character in the movie Broken Arrow (which was really an Empty Quiver event)

[Tango13]

Idaho Falls by William Mckeown, ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-562-4

You might be able to get a copy in the UK but I doubt it'll be easy, I had to get a copy via a friends parents in the US.