A Review of Criticality Accidents A Review of Criticality Accidents

The main cause of the accident was the erroneous
judgment of the experimenter as to the state of the
experimental assembly he was constructing. The
accident resulted in virtually no damage to the machinery
or equipment in the facility. The experimental cell
was not contaminated. The experimenter received
estimated absorbed doses of 4,500 rad from neutrons,
and 350 rad from gamma-rays. 61, 62, 63 That same day
he was transported to a specialized clinic in Moscow,
where he died during the night between 19 and
20 June, 1997. No other personnel were injured or
received significant exposures. Radiation levels inside
the control room and in the vicinity of the building
remained at normal levels. The total energy released
was estimated to be equivalent to 10 19 fissions. After
the accident, experiments with FKBN-2M were
stopped to implement safety upgrades to the research
operations.
92
Figure 57. Calculated power history for the accident.
Figure 58. Removal of the main core of the assembly from the lower copper hemishell reflector.
Power (watts)
10 9
10 8
10 7
10 6
10 5
10 4
10 3
10 2
10 1
10 0
10 -2
10 -1
10 0
10 1
10 2
Time (seconds)
10 3
10 4
10 5