![]() British authorities estimate that 30 or more cancer deaths since 1957 can be attributed to radioactivity released during the accident. ![]() ![]() However, quantities of radiation exceeding safe levels were observed shortly after the accident in Norway, Denmark, and other countries east of the British islands. The fire burned for two days before it was finally extinguished with water.įortunately, the area around Windscale is sparsely populated, and no immediate deaths resulted from the accident. The graphite moderator caught fire, uranium metal melted, and radioactive gases were released to the atmosphere. On October 7, 1957, however, a routine procedure designed to release energy stored in the graphite cube failed, and a huge amount of heat was released in a short period of time. At some point above 572 ☏ (300 ☌), it may then suddenly release that stored energy in the form of heat.Ī safety system that allowed this stored energy to be released slowly was installed in the Windscale reactor. Graphite, on the other hand, increases in volume and begins to store energy. Water, its modern counterpart, becomes warmer inside the reactor and circulates to transfer heat away from the core. Graphite behaves in a somewhat unusual way when bombarded with neutrons. The graphite served to slow down fast-moving neutrons produced during nuclear fission, allowing the reactor to operate more efficiently. ![]() This early reactor was designed with a large graphite block in which cans containing the uranium fuel were embedded. The Windscale nuclear reactor was built in the 1940s near Sellafield, a remote farm area of northern England, to supply nuclear power to the region. ![]()
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