Criticality the dangers of critical mass 1969 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2016, 03:20:56 am
content: I guess I will never again espouse moderation in all things.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2016, 10:38:42 am
content: Fabulous watch, but I kept waiting for the Goodies to pop in.

author: Keicar
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2016, 12:11:49 pm
content: Thanks for that, very interesting. There's also some good information on criticality accidents in a report from Los Alamos National Laboratory:https://www.orau.org/ptp/Library/accidents/la-13638.pdfWhen the film was made in 1969, the UK was yet to have a criticality accident - they had one in 1970, though.

author: John Coloccia
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2016, 01:05:29 pm
content: Interesting!For anyone who wants a good read, somewhat related:https://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Project-Untold-Making-Atomic/dp/0595092381I have the first edition in hardcover. Was my father's actually. It would have to be since it was published before I was born. I've read that book multiple times, and have found it enjoyable each and every time. It's far better written than many of the "bomb" books that have come out relatively recently, so if you've read any of those and didn't like them, don't let that turn you off from checking this one out.

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2016, 06:48:33 pm
content: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman"has a few interesting tidbits about criticality safety during the Manhattan project. In particular he tells one (possibly apocryphal) story about being sent to inspect an enrichment facility before it becomes operational, where he sees workers rehearsing the process by rolling around cartloads of mock canisters of partially enriched material. Alarmed, he turns to his guide and says "Why do you have that many canisters on one cart? Won't it explode*?!" To which his guide says, "Explode? Why on earth would it explode?" The whole thing was such a tightly-kept secret that no one had told the plant workers were told they were dealing with fissile material, let alone the possible dangers of criticality due to improper handling!* I don't know if "explode" is Feynman's embellishment, his shorthand for something more accurate but less flamboyant, or my misremembering of the story, but I'm pretty sure that's the word he used in the book.

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2016, 01:41:25 am
content: The Demon Core.Another interesting read.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2016, 04:02:28 am
content: Another one.http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/tokaimura-criticality-accident.aspxThis report is relatively damning, but is not as scathing as some other reports I have seen of the same incident.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2016, 04:09:48 am
content: google SL-1 nuclear reactor accidentIn which criticality pinned a man to the ceiling.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2016, 05:33:07 am
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on December 02, 2016, 04:09:48 am

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2016, 02:35:00 pm
content: On SL-1" One of the shield plugs on top of the reactor vessel impaled the third man through his groin and exited his shoulder, pinning him to the ceiling.""The bodies of all three were buried in lead-lined caskets sealed with concrete and placed in metal vaults with a concrete cover. Some highly radioactive body parts were buried in the Idaho desert as radioactive waste."