Tuesday, January 3, 1961: Nuclear accident in Idaho

Three workers are killed in a steam explosion at the U.S. National Reactor Testing Station outside Idaho Falls, Idaho. It is America's first fatal nuclear accident. All of the victims are buried in lead-lined caskets; one of them, Army Specialist Richard McKinley, is at Arlington National Cemetery. (At left is a photo of a nearby roadway being tested for radiation after the accident.)

* Summary (from System Failure Case Studies, a NASA publication): @

* U.S. Atomic Energy Commission video: @

* Federal documents relating to accident (from U.S. Department of Energy): @

* "Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident" (book by William McKeown): @

* "Runaway reactor": (Time magazine, January 13, 1961): @

* "5 times we almost nuked ourselves by accident" (from io9 website): @

* "Proving the Principle: A History of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory": @

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