The SL-1 reactor being removed from the reactor building after the accident. The SL-1 Reactor Accident site today The world’s first fatal atomic accident occurred on January 3, 1961 when a small, 3MW experimental BWR called SL-1 (Stationary Low-Power Plant No. 1) in Idaho was destroyed after a control rod was removed manually.
The SL-1, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor in the United States that underwent a steam explosion and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators. The direct cause was the improper withdrawal of the central control rod, responsible for absorbing neutrons in the reactor core.
The SL-1, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a steam explosion and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators John Byrnes, Richard McKinley, and Richard Legg.
STATIONARY LOW-POWER PLANT NUMBER 1, SL-1 ACCIDENT ©M. Ragheb. 11/10/2020 . INTRODUCTION . The SL-1 reactor , originally named Argonne Low Power Reactor , ALPR, was designed for the USA Army as a prototype of a low-power, 300 kWe boilingwater – reactor plant to be used in geographically remote locations. Due to the need for small, re-assembling the reactor control rod drive mechanisms during a reactor outage. The SL-1 was a small 3 Mega-Watt-thermal (MWt) boiling water reactor , complete with a turbine-generator and condenser designed to generate both electric power and building heat. 1 The SL-1 was designed, constructed and initially operated by Argonne National Laboratory.
The SL-1 boiling water reactor building, tank, and sign in the foreground, ca. 1960. Image courtesy of the Dept. of Energy: Storage vault for reactor fuel rods at SM-1A, Fort Greely, Alaska: An undated image of the PM-3A reactor at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, The world’s first fatal atomic accident occurred on January 3, 1961 when a small, 3MW experimental BWR called SL-1 (Stationary Low-Power Plant No. 1) in Idaho was destroyed after a control rod was removed manually.
7/22/2015 · Normally, the SL-1 reactor was single rod safe — one rod could be completely removed and the reactor would remain under control. However, the reactor was under maintenance, didn’t have all the fuel assemblies in place, and didn’t have the normal load of water in place. This left it less stable, and it was no longer single rod safe.
