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This energy is a problem for nuclear reactors because it can be spontaneously and rapidly released from the graphite in the form of heat. Unplanned excess heat is not a desirable situation within a nuclear reactor, so it is beneficial to keep the levels of stored Wigner Energy to a minimum.

Attempts to reduce this stored energy resulted in the Windscale incident. Operators used a process known as " annealing" that requires shutting off the core's cooling system and allowing internal temperatures to rise, resulting in a gradual bleeding-off of Wigner Energy. The first fifteen attempts of this process proved successful but, due to inaccurate temperature monitoring in the core, the sixteenth resulted in extremely high temperatures when the chain reaction was restarted. This resulted in canisters of materials in the core rupturing and then igniting causing release of radioactive gases and particulates into the atmosphere. A more serious incident was only avoided when the high risk strategy of flooding the core with water extinguished the fire.

External links

• An article on the Windscale fire, by the Lake District Tourist Board