US EPA

1270701 

Journal Article 

Review 

Nuclear criticality accidents 

Smith, DR 

1991 

1 

Occupational Medicine
ISSN: 0962-7480
EISSN: 1471-8405 

6 

4 

569-579 

English 

1962246 

Nuclear criticality accidents were discussed with emphasis on factors influencing criticality. Four process criticality accidents were reviewed, along with one of the two critical experiment accidents at Los Alamos that resulted in fatalities during the 1940s. The described accidents occurred at facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1958; Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1958; Richland, Washington in 1962; and Wood River Junction, Rhode Island in 1964. The process accidents were characterized by spike yields of limited size, little or no damage to process equipment, and availability of and prompt response to criticality alarm systems. Facility downtime following accidents appeared to depend on administrative decisions rather than on accident severity. The Los Alamos critical experiment accident involved the creation of a metal critical assembly consisting of a plutonium sphere reflected by beryllium. This accident, which proved fatal to the person who performed the demonstration, convinced people that hand stacking fissionable material in critical or near critical configurations entailed unacceptable risk. 

DCN-203142; Accident analysis; Accident statistics; Nuclear hazards; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear fission; Radiation injury; Radiation exposure; Nuclear reactor accidents