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Pathways from airborne radioactive contamination to manThis is a list of notable accidents involving nuclear material. In some cases, these incidents involve people being injured or killed due to the release of radioactive contamination. Most incidents involve accidental releases that have caused contamination, but had no other immediate effects. Some incidents only had the potential to release radioactive material, and are included because of the tensions such incidents caused (collisions between nuclear-powered submarines, for instance). Due to government and business secrecy, it is difficult to determine with certainty the extent of some events listed below or, occasionally, whether they happened at all.
- August 21, 1945 Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.Daghlian, Jr. 1921-1945), while performing a critical mass experiment at the remote Omega Site laboratory in Los Alamos, NM (Manhattan Project/Project Y), on August 21, 1945, was irradiated as a result of accidentally dropping a tungsten carbide brick ont, working at Los AlamosLos Alamos National Laboratory (LANL is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, managed by the University of California, located in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Laboratory is one of the largest multidisciplinary institutions in the Omega site, accidentally created a supercritical massA criticality accident occurs when a chain reaction is accidentally allowed to occur in fissile material, such as enriched uranium or plutonium. This releases neutron radiation which is highly dangerous to surrounding personnel and which causes induced ra when he dropped a tungsten carbideTungsten carbide WC or WC, is an alloy of tungsten and carbon. Its extreme hardness makes it useful in the manufacture of cutting tools, abrasives and bearings, as a cheaper alternative to diamond. Data External link . brick onto a plutoniumPlutonium is a radioactive, metallic, chemical element. It has the symbol Pu and the atomic number 94. Its atomic weight is 244. 06, its density 19,800 kg/m3. It is the element used in most modern nuclear weapons. The most important isotope of plutonium i core. He quickly removed the piece, but was fatally irradiatedRadiation generally means the transmission of objects or information from a source into a surrounding medium or destination. Within physics, related concepts are: Ionizing radiation is a stream of particles (photons or other particles) with sufficient ene in the incident, dying September 15September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). There are 107 days remaining. Events 608 Saint Boniface IV becomes Pope 921 Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law at Tetin. 1514 Thomas Wolsey appointed Archbishop. [2]
- May 21May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). There are 224 days remaining. Events 996 Sixteen year old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1674 John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland., 1946 Canadian physicist Louis Slotin manually assembled a critical mass of plutonium while demonstrating his technique to visiting scientists at Los Alamos and suffered a fatal criticality accident. The device consisted of two half-spheres of beryllium-covered plutonium, which can be moved together slowly to measure the criticality. Normally the device would be operated by machinery, but Slotin distrusted the devices and manually operated it by holding the upper sphere with his thumb inserted in a hole in the top like a bowling ball. In most experiments, a number of washers would be arranged to prevent the two hemispheres from falling together completely, but he had removed them. In order to slowly bring the two pieces together, he rested one edge on the lower sphere and rotated a slot screwdriver between the other edge to control the separation. At one point, the screwdriver slipped and the assembly went critical while he was still holding onto it. None of the seven observers received a lethal dose, but Slotin died on the 30th from massive radiation poisoning, with an estimated dose of 1000 rad, or 10 gray (Gy). In the movie Fat Man and Little Boy John Cusack played a combination of Harry K. Daglian and Louis Slotin. [3]
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