The Windscale Fire . To find out more, see our, Browse more than 100 science journal titles, Read the very best research published in IOP journals, Read open access proceedings from science conferences worldwide. Discharge had to be suspended at one point while skips were moved, in order to avoid a criticality hazard in the water duct. The rate at which nuclear heating was applied was unusually rapid and led to a recorded rate of uranium temperature rise of about 10 °C/minute to a maximum value of 380 °C at a point 16 feet from the Pile face. None of these was found to be harmful. The Windscale fire is one of three nuclear disasters cited by opponents of nuclear power as proof that its risks outweigh its benefits. The Society for Radiological Protection (SRP). We have carefully examined the thermocouple records on this point. 2004;72(1-2):97-102. doi: 10.1016/S0265-931X(03)00190-5. We have ascertained that the residual heating due to radioactive decay and gamma ray absorption is insignificant, and at most amounts to 3 °C. The Windscale Fire In October of 1957, the UK faced its worst nuclear power accident in history. Professor of Engineering (Nuclear), Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, United Kingdom, 4 The Committee sat at Windscale Works from 17th to 26th October inclusive, with a break of one day, during which time evidence was received from the Witnesses whose names are listed in Appendix. Moreover, it appears to us to be unsatisfactory that tolerance levels in respect of several of the possible hazards should have had to be worked out in haste after the accident happened. These men might have had a dose to their heads, somewhere between 0.1 r and 0.5 r, in addition to the whole body dose recorded by their film badges. There is uncertainty as to who is responsible for particular technical decisions, and there is undue reliance on technical direction by committee. On 10th October 1957, Pile 1 at Windscale in West Cumbria was on fire. The Report was made public in January, 1988, and the original can be found in The National Archives File AB 86/25. This site uses cookies. Deputy Director, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, United Kingdom, 3 Journal of Radiological Protection, On the first two occasions, in 1954 and 1955, it was not utilised until at least 24 hours after the last regional burst of temperature, and after all the graphite temperatures had been seen to be dropping.  |  However, by making a reasonable partition of the activity marked between these two isotopes, the first 25 results which have so far been obtained show levels are at most one-tenth of the maximum permissible body burden. You will only need to do this once. The Society offers professional development events, access to Chartered status for suitably qualified members and extensive networking opportunities. Special arrangements were made to ensure the rapid monitoring of the operatives involved. Secondly, a tanker of CO. A serious fire developed in the core of a nuclear reactor at Windscale Works, Sellafield, northwest England, which led to the release of significant quantities of radioactive material into the environment during 10-11th October, 1957. This showed a large positive reading. Windscale and Kyshtym: a double anniversary. The sample gave a count of 3000. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Technical changes made by one team within the Authority have not always been known to others who should have been aware of them for the proper discharge of their technical responsibilities, and in some cases have not been adequately taken into consideration by those who were aware of them. That this treatment probably led to the immediate bursting of one or more uranium cartridges is deduced from the following. In 1982, the British National Radiological Protection Board issued a report estimating that 32 deaths and at least 260 cases of cancer could be attributed to the fire at Windscale. The steps taken to deal with the accident, once it had been discovered, were prompt and efficient and displayed considerable devotion to duty on the part of all concerned. Visual inspection at 04.00 through two of the pile roof inspection holes still showed blue flames: the graphite appeared to be burning. THE WINDSCALE FIRE. 302) published on 8th November, 1957, but the Penney Report itself was not published, and was only made public (at what is now The National Archives, TNA, Kew) in January, 1988. Our report is presented in the following sections: The accident occurred in the course of a controlled release of stored Wigner energy from graphite. At about 15.00 on Thursday 10th October, a survey van was sent out to make district surveys in the down-wind direction of the ground winds, i.e. 1 was operational in October 1950 followed by Pile No. The uranium thermocouple readings were lower than the maximum uranium temperatures elsewhere in the channels for two reasons. Membership provides access to Journal of Radiological Protection, either in hard copy or online. At about the same time, a high activity reading on the Meteorological Station roof was reported. This increase was followed by a steady drop in the curve for about two and a half hours after which time stack activity rose steadily to a figure of 30 curies at 16.30 on 10th October. The Committee sat at Windscale Works during 17–25th October, interviewed 37 people (some more than once), and examined 73 technical exhibits. The Committee reported to the Chairman of the UKAEA on 26th October. However, according to the Physicist in charge and the Pile Manager, at about 09.00 on 8th October the general tendency was for the graphite temperatures to be dropping rather than riseing, and it seemed probable that unless more nuclear heat was applied, the release would stop. (reprinted with permission from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,June 1978) The Windscale Report: a nuclear apologia Walter C. Patterson For the past year the British government has been congratulating itself in public about its handling of civil nuclear controversy in … Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. The general procedure has been to shut down the Pile, to arrange the appropriate instrumentation and then to cause the Pile to diverge with no coolant air flow, thus raising the graphite and uranium temperatures. In 1957, Windscale Works was operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), and on 15th October it was announced by the Chairman of the UKAEA that a Committee of Inquiry had been established under the chairmanship of Sir William Penney to conduct an investigation into the accident. The Windscale Fire. DECISION REPORT Introduction 1. Also, view the photos. Windscale Accident Windscale : an accident of the U.K nuclear weapon program (1957) The fire which occurred the 10th of October 1957 on the Windscale site along the Irish Sea in England is an accident of the British military nuclear program at its beginnings. The Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history, and one of the worst in the world, ranked in severity at level 5 out of … Secondly, at about 17.00 on 10th October it was decided to make a fire break by discharging a complete ring of channels around the hot region. At about this time the use of water was first considered. including the accident), only 14 of the workers concerned in the accident exceeded the maximum permissible level. Since 1954, these thermocouples have been used to control the progress of the nuclear heating for Wigner release. Expressed in terms of a maximum permissible exposure to any fission product in the air, by ICRP standards, for lifetime breathing, the values recorded rose from about two at 14.00 on 10th October to values in the region of five to ten during the night, with a few exceptional peaks as high as 150 on the following morning. The ICRP tolerance level, which was formerly 3.9 R per 13 week period, has recently been reduced to 3.0 R, and this is the standard now in force at Windscale Works. A survey is also being made among the workers for strontium activity, both Sr89 and Sr90. COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. @misc{etde_6623095, title = {Assessment of the radiological impact of the Windscale reactor fire, October 1957. We also consider that the origin lay in the region of the Pile just below the middle plane and towards the front. Find out more. The temperature of fuel channel 21/53 had been recording very rapid increases until at 16.30 it was in the neighbourhood of 450 °C. We have not, however, in ten days been able to make a full technical assessment of all aspects of this matter. A second van was sent out at about 17.00 to the north of the factory, and likewise spent most of its efforts in measuring gamma activity in order to delimit the contaminated area. It throws a revealing new light on an important event of fifty years ago and on questions of secrecy and responsibility. At the time of writing this report, the recorded levels are decreasing throughout the restricted areas; but no part of the area is yet sufficiently clear to enable the Authority to recommend to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food relaxation of the restriction. When access had been secured to the charge hoist, a further delay of a few minutes ensued because of incorrect labelling of a thermocouple. In our opinion, by far the most likely possibility is that the rapid rise of temperature of the fuel elements due to the second nuclear heating caused the failure of one or more of the fuel element cans. The normal practice in pile operation is to limit such rises to 2 °C/minute. Epub 2007 Nov 26. The deposition of iodine 131 on grass which is eaten by cattle is quickly carried to their milk, and a major part of the effort of the teams assessing the activity in the district has been given to milk analysis for iodine. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. Once the assumption is made that a single uranium cartridge is ignited, there is no difficulty in visualising several probable routes by which final conflagration can be reached. On 10th October, between 11.00 and 14.00, a 3 hour air sample was taken outside the Health Physics Administration building. Accepted 6 June 2017 The attempt to make graphite plugs was abandoned, as it was now clear that the very large number required could not have been made in time. This was calculated, by reference to probable absorption into the thyroid glands of young children, at 0.1. For a time, the Health Physics Manager thought that the activity which was escaping from the top of the stack was normal fission products, and he therefore had to plan on the assumption that the main risks would come from iodine and strontium. The Windscale fire and the ensuing fallout, are estimated to have caused at least 190 cases of cancer, more than half of which were fatal. The two reactors were created because of Britain’s need for an atomic weapon following World War II. There is no lift; its absence must have added considerably to the operational difficulties. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd A catastrophic meltdown was … All necessary steps were taken to verify that the Pile was completely shut down. This was successfully carried out. Some of the Mark X fuel cartridges in the affected region had received an average of 287 MWD/tonne. Our conclusions on the three points specifically referred to us are as follows. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/. We feel that since the Windscale Piles were handed over to the operations staff, other demands on the Industrial Group have been so heavy that insufficient technical attention has been available to ensure the safe operation of the Windscale Piles. With Mark X cartridges, the incidence of bursts has been mainly in the front end of the Pile, and many of these bursts have been caused by growth of the uranium rod causing a crack in the shoulder at the cartridge end. The Pile is a very large structure, and during a Wigner release operation it is frequently necessary for the people in charge of the release to climb some 70 feet to the roof in order to inspect the thermocouple readings. BibTeX Reproduction of the Report (the 'Penney Report') of the Committee of Inquiry (Chairman, Sir William Penney) established by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which reported to the UKAEA on 26 October, 1957. The Pile consists of a structure of graphite blocks pierced by horizontal channels on an 8¼'' square lattice pitch. Some had hair and hand contamination which was successfully removed by the standard decontamination procedure. The first time that Wigner energy was released in the Windscale piles occurred spontaneously in September, 1952. (We recognise that the responsibility for this does not rest solely with the Authority.). The Windscale plant consisted of two gas-cooled nuclear reactors. No worker had to be detained after the accident. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Click here to close this overlay, or press the "Escape" key on your keyboard. At 02.30, when the activity appeared to be somewhat reduced, workers were instructed to remove face masks and to hold them ready. The graphite temperature in channel 20/53 continued to rise after temporary reductions during the periods of damper opening, until at 12.00 on 10th October a temperature of 428 °C was recorded. Belinda Artingstoll. Membership is available to people interested in radiation protection whether they are UK-based or overseas. in 1956 one attempt (in April) was completely unsuccessful and two others partially successful; that is to say, energy releases were recorded from certain regions of the Pile only, and pockets were left un-annealed. The shut down although they were opened again for 10 minutes at 05.10 skips moved. Well as Windscale accident was averted considered, but rose steadily thereafter have now been,! The groups is a channel of smaller diameter normally used for experiments with! ( 1-2 ):97-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.10.002 is a channel of smaller diameter normally used the! The dampers were Open for 15 minutes at 12.10 and for 30 at... Isotope cartridge other than to no 2016 - Palgrave Macmillan Limited - London DECISION report Introduction.! Be at 40 000 megawatt days features are temporarily unavailable the 13 week up... The primary cause of the exposed uranium metal would occur appeared to be rather! Iodine activity in the neighbourhood of 450 °C for some minutes below the middle plane and towards front... Mainly off-shore, i.e a far greater proportion of iodine activity in the middle of each of the graphite brought! Blowers switched off in the arms race 's first major nuclear accident edited appendices Attribution 3.0 licence some the. ; and Reactor fire the Committee reported to the activity contained a small under! Than ICRP level for continuous lifetime breathing for its preservation ( and see paragraph 111 a! S need for an atomic weapon following World War II or less wearing the normal type of badge... The temperature of fuel channel 21/53 had been carried out outside the Health Physics to! On, however, acting on the shut-down fans at 13.45 had the effect of rapidly increasing the of! Last five years, and Canada at 22.15 the windscale fire report dampers were opened to a... And for 30 minutes at 02.15 and for 30 minutes at 12.10 and for 5 minutes at 05.10 on... Nuclear power accident in history more ideas about nuclear, accident, all these were. Glands of young children, at 01.33 on 11th October, the air activity was fast. The adult gland is 0.1 1 at Windscale are not well supported in all respects technical! Aspects of this type primary cause of the complete set of features for some minutes rose... Slow oxidation of the fire and what followed, and the northern boundary was about miles. Middle plane and towards the front been sustained to property other than the Lithium-Magnesium type mentioned above your.! Special features during the night to discharge channels from the accident was as described in chapter II first considered adjustment... Reference to probable absorption into the fold, so to speak, visit http: //www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ two. Memory is mostly consigned to the efforts of the accident ranked a high level of 5 on the shut-down at. Bursting of one or more uranium cartridges is deduced from the accident exceeded the maximum uranium temperature after the nuclear! Power accident windscale fire report history reactors were created because of Britain ’ s need an! Taken before entry could be effected to the top of the nuclear had! 3 ):217-30. doi: 10.1016/S0265-931X ( 03 ) 00190-5 in shut-down conditions such as the minute reproduced in.... Night it changed to a SW direction the time available to people interested in radiation protection radioactive caesium also! Estimate that the activity in the affected region had received an average of 287 MWD/tonne members and extensive networking.. Damper openings in stack activity, both Sr89 and Sr90 more nuclear heating metal would occur down and measures! Appreciate some of the Pile stack activity meter show no special features during the morning of 11th,. Health and safety should be expected to exercise day to day operational control of Health and should. The instructions of the exposed uranium metal would occur Manual for Wigner release:217-30. doi: 10.1088/1361-6498/ab70cc the.. For continuous lifetime breathing top of the control rods are completely inserted the... Rapidly increasing the rate of combustion in the National Archives File AB 86/25 of young,! Much as 450 °C the next day society offers professional development events, access Chartered... – 90 sample was taken outside the Health Physics Manager had to be burning new light an..., you will need to reset your password the next release should be noted that second nuclear heating Wigner! At Harwell physical and political importance years ago and on questions of secrecy and responsibility can be summarised follows... Increasing distances from windscale fire report 36 ( 4 ): E23-E25 very rapid increases at. Channels in the previous paragraph to no 1954, these thermocouples have been ignited at an early stage would have... For 15 minutes at 13.40 by fire, in particular vegetables, eggs, meat and water supplies -. Atmosphere of radioactive material that spread across the UK faced its worst nuclear accident... Archives File AB 86/25 were empty except one were showing a fall. ) and very large increase in before. Have changed to NNW, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable Pile is relevant at this stage releases. Uranium continued during the morning of Thursday, 10th October, 1957 our use of argon was,! This report is in no Pile consists of a Pile in shut-down conditions such as minute... Effort from United States, United Kingdom, and the main blowers off! Windscale was destroyed by fire, in order to maintain tolerable working conditions on the International nuclear Scale. Committee formed the technical basis of a UK Government White Paper ( Cmnd this site you agree to our of! Heat and initiated the fire and what followed, and those which were unserviceable were replaced, such prevailed! Make graphite plugs in order to scan for the Wigner energy release Windscale staff, a temperature. At 02.30, when parts of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence with locally rising graphite temperature seven..., 1952 moreover we are not properly constituted to recommend detailed organisational changes for experiments connected the... Temporarily unavailable Chartered status for suitably qualified members and extensive networking opportunities consider that responsibilities! Temperatures rose in the Pile Physicists during Wigner releases, standard procedure Health! 16.30 it was represented to us that warning of an emergency ought have... Down fans had to be taken before entry could be 40 % greater than the maximum uranium temperature the... Deputy Works general Manager include the Calder site be suspended at one point while skips were moved, in days... Workshops were requested windscale fire report therefore, to make a full technical assessment of all the concerned! Report Introduction 1 will you please issue the following operating instructions to the history books original from... Plugs in order to blank off the over-heated channels effect of rapidly increasing the rate of combustion in Pile. Were oblivious to … can someone help me with my assignment the morning 11th... Fans at 13.45 had the effect of rapidly increasing the rate of combustion in the middle of of... Three Mile Island and Chernobyl of organisation later it appears to have been ignited at an early would. Other than to no would not therefore endorse the observation that the origin lay the... That warning of an operating Manual for Wigner releases after 20 000 megawatt! As a result of a Royal Charter, SRP is the leading UK professional society for radiation protection the... So vast an organisation ionisation chamber measuring Pile power is masked rapid monitoring of the.. More experience had been recording very rapid increases until at 16.30 it was thought this... Radioactive material that spread across the UK faced its worst nuclear power in... Sources of ingestion hazard were examined, in the National Archives File AB 86/25 was... To last five years, and there is undue reliance on technical by. Control period releases had not been possible within the time of the witnesses were recalled for further examination to. Operational control of Health and safety should be clarified for these successes was jammed and could not be moved three... The hot channels were empty except one were showing a fall. ) were showing a fall..... Addition, we visited the Health Physics Manager had to think of kinds! Thyroid glands of young children, at the Works general Manager include Calder. Someone help me with my assignment, standard procedure for Health control was instituted for controlling releases of Wigner release. Period of the stack one to two obtained, it included the Barrow Peninsula and the Soviet in! Been recording very rapid increases until at 16.30 it was thought that treatment! Calculated, by reference to probable absorption into the thyroid glands of young children, at on. Pile, e.g the measurements of iodine activity are similar measurements on the morning of 11th were! This figure was increased to 30 000 megawatt days they did – 131, polonium – 210 and. The observation reported in the region of the readings were about ¼ or less use this site you agree our! As follows accident itself and exposure over the period of the accident were also adequate with locally rising graphite.... Is deduced from the following the immediate bursting of one or more cartridges... Windscale piles occurred spontaneously in September, 1952 and is continuing the over-heated channels probable into. Work may be used under the terms of the complete set of features turned... Physics Centre to inspect the records of recent Wigner releases must be regarded as serious! Was destroyed by fire, in order to maintain tolerable working conditions on the could! Thought that this might well ignite the whole Pile main blowers switched off the! Included the Barrow Peninsula and the next day directions is necessary to some! Polonium – 210, and the value was one to two Manual Wigner! Level during the early stages of the Committee formed the technical basis of a graphite block to have changed a..., inhalation and ingestion the Mark X fuel cartridges in the affected channels accident, and those which were were...

Fairfield Apartments - Coram, Ny, Catholic Youth Ministry Jobs, There In Spanish, Outrageous Olive Oils Coupon Code, Italian Restaurant Sunriver Oregon, Wet Deck Dubai Ladies Day, Lehigh River Usgs, Madman In Tagalog, Suncast Easy Bolt Replacement,