Evening star., 1958-05-11
Continued from preceding page
The Disaster On
Treasure island


the uranium during the fsson process broke out Of
its pipes and flooded the concrete building. The fs-
sion products released with it were equivalent to
almost seven times the total amount Of radium pro-
duced in the whole world to date.
Since the Canadian Government didn't have
enough trained experts Of its own to clean up the
radioactive debris, it dispatched SOS to Washing
ton. An NRDL task force spearheaded the American
scientific party that hurried to the scene.
IL was a rugged salvage operation. The contami-
mated water had to be pumped out Of the building.
Radioactive particles ingraned deep in the concrete
walls. had to be sandblaSted off, along with one-half
inch Of the concrete.
Too "Hot" To Handle
That was just the beginning The twisted uranium
rods from the interior Of the massive. 35foot-tall
reactor were far too hot to approach. So the
salvage team rgged up a series Of remote control
devices and using teevision camera to guide them.
attempted to yank the rods out Ii was weeks before
the last Of the uranium rods was freed.
Most dangerous Of all. the lethally radioactive
aluminium tank in which the rods had been housed
had to be disposed of.
One night, every person was ordered of the res
ervaton except picked crew of 10 American and
Canadian salvage workers Remote control cables
jockeyed the two-and-a -half-ton tank onto giant
skid. tractor whose driver was shielded in lead
dragged the skid miles out into the woods. There a
bulldozer piled mountain Of sand over the tank.
The Day The Radium Spilled
A second example of the kind of emergency atomic
firemen would be called on to handle was the
Treasure Island radium spill. The story is made
public here for the first time.
There was an accident at the Navy training school
on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, few
years ago. During an atomic experiment, glass
capsule Of radium slipped from its metal container
and dropped, unnoticed, to the floor. The glass
broke and the radium spilled out.
For an hour, the sailors in the room walked
through that nOxiOus powder.
The routine washup ordered when the situation
was finally recognized, was far from enough. Thirty
five unsuspectng sailors left for their homes around
the city, infected with radioactive material.
AS ranking Navy officer remarked,
"It was like letting an epidemic loose on the town"
Some hours later, news of the spill reached the
NRDL. Instantly, its scientists swung into action
Pursuit BY Geiser Counter
Each sailor was tracked down by telephone or
searching party. The minute one was located, a
team Of NRDL men sped to him with special detec-
ton and decontamnation devices.
Some of those Sailors" Tompkins says, "weTe
carrying so much radioactive powder on them that
we could trace their footsteps with Geieer counters.
We could tell whether they went into the living room
and kissed their wives, or walked into the kitchen
for glass Of water"
In home after home the furniture, the carpets, the
floors and the bathroom fixtures seriously con-
taminated. In one home, a sailor had lain down for
few minutes. The sofa was contaminated in the
exact outline Of his body.