Why isn the Windscale accident included in this list?
The 1957 accident at Windscale Pile 1 (Cumbria, UK) does not meet any of the criteria for inclusion (see criteria above). On 10 October 1957 a fire broke out in the core of the Windscale Pile 1 plutonium production reactor (Cumbria, United Kingdom), resulting in the release of radioactive core material. The fire was extinguished the following day. No acute radiation injuries resulted (or would be, based on the size of the release). The radiation release was about 0.02 megacuries, mostly biologically active radioiodine. The British government took action to stop consumption of contaminated milk; these actions were apparently sufficient to prevent any demonstrable chronic radiation injury. References (incomplete): • Chamberlain, A. C., and H. J. Dunster, 1958, “Deposition of radioactivity in north-west England from the accident at Windscale,” Nature, 182:629-630. • Manning, Russ, ed., 1985, The Second Nuclear Era: A New Start for Nuclear Power, Praeger (New York, NY).
