A Review of Criticality Accidents A Review of Criticality Accidents
A Review of Criticality Accidents A Review of Criticality Accidents
A Review of Criticality Accidents A Review of Criticality Accidents
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
17. Mayak Production Association, 10 December 1968<br />
Plutonium solutions (aqueous and organic) in a 60 liter vessel; three excursions; one fatality, one serious<br />
exposure.<br />
The accident occurred in a building where various<br />
chemical and metallurgical operations with plutonium<br />
were performed. Operations were conducted on four,<br />
6–hour, shifts per day. The accident occurred on the<br />
19:00 to 01:00 (10–11 December) shift. An unfavorable<br />
geometry vessel was being used in an improvised<br />
and unapproved operation as a temporary vessel for<br />
storing plutonium organic solution. Two independent<br />
handling operations with this same vessel and same<br />
contents less than one hour apart led to two prompt<br />
critical excursions, each one resulting in the severe<br />
exposure <strong>of</strong> a worker. A weak excursion occurred<br />
between the two energetic ones, when there were no<br />
personnel present.<br />
A small scale research and development operation<br />
had been set up in a basement area to investigate the<br />
purification properties <strong>of</strong> various organic extractants.<br />
As originally built, the equipment and piping configuration<br />
<strong>of</strong> this research operation precluded these<br />
organics from reaching a set <strong>of</strong> two 1,000 l tanks used<br />
for the collection <strong>of</strong> very lean aqueous solutions<br />
(
Change language