The Radiation Excursion of May 26, 1954: A Preliminary Report

Technical Report · Tue Jun 08 04:00:00 EDT 1954

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4342150· OSTI ID:4342150

Callihan, Dixon ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

On May 26, 1954 at approximately 12:57 PM, a mechanical failure in one of the experimental enriched uranium-water solution critical assemblies introduced a large excess reactivity causing the assembly to rise on a prompt critical period. While the total number of fissions during the transient has been estimated to be 10¹⁷ there was no evidence of violent boiling in the system or of mechanical break down due to the energy release. The safety system apparently operated normally and the reaction was stopped automatically. All personnel in the building during the incident were protected by a minimum of five feet of concrete shielding, so no serious exposures were incurred. The following preliminary report is intended to describe the incident in the light of presently available data. A more comprehensive report will be issued after some reconstruction experiments and a more thorough analysis of the incident have been completed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-11-011763
• OSTI ID: 4342150
• Report Number(s): CF-54-6-40
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
42 ENGINEERING
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Accident
Critical Assemblies
Criticality
EXCURSIONS
Enrichment
Excursion
Experimental
Incident
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
RADIATIONS
Radiation
Report
Safety System
Uranium-Water Solution