nuclear-news

Mystery of America’s first fatal nuclear disaster – explosion of small nuclear reactor

– with rumors still rife over 60 years later that explosion in remote Idaho town was triggered by one man’s murderous rage amid LOVE TRIANGLE

• It happened at the Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 (SL-1) in January 1961
• All three technicians there died during routine maintenance on the lab’s reactor
• The trio were eventually retrieved, at the cost of 790 being exposed to radiation

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8cYheR5xo%3Fsi%3DiihXmqeJyXZlnBya

The first half of the video above spells out the technical details – the second half describes the deaths, and the autopsies, mutilation of bodies, and disposal of highly radioactive body parts. Final report showed the flaws in the reactor and its procedures, which were the underlying cause of this disaster.

By ALEX HAMMER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM, 7 April 2024 

The SL-1 accident is the only fatal nuclear reactor event to ever occur on US soil.

An earth-shattering explosion at the Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 (SL-1) in January 1961 saw all three technicians on staff killed during what was meant to be routine maintenance of the government lab’s nuclear reactor.

Following a painstaking operation, the men’s bodies were retrieved – at the cost of 790 others being exposed to radiation out in Idaho‘s Lost River desert

The three men were then wrapped in hundred pounds of lead, interned in steel coffins and buried under a slab of concrete to prevent any further spread. The lab was also considered lost and was buried a few hundred yards away.

But rumors surrounding the incident still swirl today, with some speculating the disaster was in fact a murder-suicide triggered by a sordid squabble after one of the crew members engaged in an affair with another’s wife. 

Indeed, one report claims that the man responsible for the explosion had received a phone call from his wife asking for a divorce just minutes earlier – while the co-worker accused of sleeping with his wife was later found pinned to the ceiling directly above the blown reactor.

The explosion occurred at the Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 (SL-1) in January 1961, and saw three technicians on staff killed. A subsequent report from the United States Atomic Energy Commission suggested the meltdown may not have been the result of an error.

Army Specialists Jack Byrnes, 22, and Richard McKinley, 26, and Navy Seabee Richard Legg, 26 were tasked with manning the remote laboratory’s desolate halls, and all died in the blast. AEC special investigator Leo Miazga implied Legg was sleeping with Byrnes’ wife

………………………………………………….The Stationary Low-Power Plant was constructed at the National Reactor Testing Station, now known as Idaho National Laboratory, some 40 miles west of Idaho Falls.

Eight miles south was the aptly named Atomic City, which today boasts a population of around 40, despite – and perhaps due – to its hazardous history……………………..

reactors were designed to be small, lightweight, and easy to maintain – capable of operating for three years without refueling.

But these reactors – powered by boiling water – incorporated several new technologies, many of which required regular maintenance. 

New practices at the plant included the use of enriched uranium fuel and burnable poison strips (BPS) to prolong core life, and five control rods from the typical 20 to 50 to simplify maintenance.

Inadequately tested technologies commonly exhibited operational malfunctions, NASA scientists wrote in a 2007 report  – citing a phenomenon known as control rod ‘stickiness’ in particular.

The toxic spewing event of 1961 occurred after an 11-day maintenance shutdown at the lab over the Christmas holiday, only a half a year into its lifetime. 

It is believed the explosion was triggered when technicians attempted a manual rod travel exercise after a control rod exhibited ‘stickiness’ – a term that refers to when a rod catches more neutrons than usual, creating less energy……………………………………………..

Fewer rods, however, means more bags of balls splitting – a theory that unfortunately became a reality for the three men on duty the night of January 3, 1961.

While performing a basic maintenance procedure – attaching the control rods to the control rod drive mechanism –  Byrnes was tasked with manually lifting the control rod about four inches before attaching it to the mechanism.

However, the young technician is said to have raised the central rod to a height of 20 inches in 0.5 seconds – causing the reactor to go ‘supercritical’ in just four milliseconds. 

The core power level surged to 20,000 megawatts – 6,000 times the rated power output.

The heat generated by the power surge vaporized the water powering core and keeping it cool, while hammering steam into the top of the reactor.

This caused an explosion of colossal proportions, and the 26,000-pound reactor to lift nine feet off the ground. 

Photos from the investigation that followed show the control rod lodged in the ceiling of the SL-1 Reactor building – now buried in the Idaho desert.

Autopsies showed that Byrnes and Legg died instantly, while McKinley – whose wife was pregnant at the time-  exhibited signs of diffuse bleeding within his scalp, indicating he survived for some two hours before succumbing to his wounds.

Legg, meanwhile, had been impaled by a heavy shield plug propelled by the blast with a velocity of 85 feet per second, with officials finding both him and the debris pinned to the ceiling. 

All three men died of physical trauma – all of which was incurred from a chain reaction in the uranium fuel that caused temperatures to soar to more than 3,600 degrees.

A rescue operation was eventually launched, though with the highly toxic core exposed, another crisis akin the one seen a quarter century later in Chernobyl was also occurring.

Unaware, first responders responding to an alarm at first thought nothing was afoot – because, at first glance, the reactor building’s exterior looked normal.

There had also been two false alarms tripped earlier in the day, further quelling suspicions.

That quickly changed when they entered the building – after which their radiation detectors immediately went off.

Levels of 25 roentgens (r) were recorded, causing an evacuation – despite whole body doses of 1,000r typically being considered a death sentence.

Still, any whole-body radiation dose can increase a person’s lifetime risk of fatal cancer, and the levels left lingering were roughly the equivalent of undergoing 5,000 consecutive chest X-rays.

The rescuers thus rotated trips inside to reduce risks to their safety – rushing in with hazmat suits in 65-second intervals.

Eventually, the men’s bodies were recovered, but they remained highly radioactive.

Such radiation can take centuries to dissipate – so the military men’s especially stricken parts, their hands and organs, had to be removed and buried along with wreckage from the lab site.

The rest of the remains were shipped off to their families, and like the debris, were buried in lead-lined coffins beneath layers of concrete in each of their hometowns…………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13271859/mystery-america-nuclear-disaster-idaho-love-triangle-murder-suicide.html

April 8, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety