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United Nuclear Corporation opened Wood River Junction Fuel Recovery Plant
The plant was designed to recover Uranium waste from spent fuel rods and other waste products. -
Safety violations and negligence
- The bottles containing both high and low concentrations of radioactive materials were kept in the same containers
- The containers were not properly labeled and workers relied on penciled in notes and rubber bands to mark which bottles contained Trichloroethane [TCE] and Uranium [U235]
- Extracting Uranium from the TCE solution was time consuming and labor intensive so workers used an automatic mixer to separate low levels of uranium from the Trichloroethane solution.
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Violations leading up to event (total 14 violations)
1.No formal safety or audit committee
2. Training for operators did not include a test for knowledge or familiarity with the equipment
3. Operators had no prior experience with radioactive materials
4. Supervisors were aware of the procedure to wash TCE in the Sodium Carbonate tank
5. Supervisors did not enforce compliance with labeling due to label shortage
6. Operators failed to follow compliance regarding sampling solutions for subsequent analysis
7. Only 10 safety carts available -
700p Peabody admitted to the hospital
Rhode Island Hospital at Providence -
800p Supervisor Smith and Superintendent Holthaus return to the building
The mixer was still running and Holthaus switched it off causing a second smaller criticality. No alarms sounded because the alarms had not been reset from the first incident.
Holthaus' badge read 60-100 rems of exposure Smith was not wearing a badge as his badge had been collected by officials after the first criticality.
Holthaus and Smith were admitted to the hospital and their blood, eyes, sperm count, hair and urine were tested. -
6:06p Criticality event
Robert Peabody, 37, Production Operator mistook an 11 liter container of Trichloroethane (TCE) for a higher concentration of Uranium 235. When he poured the higher concentration (approx. 200g/liter) into a sodium carbonate solution he was knocked back and the mixture began to glow bright blue. He was exposed to 46,000 rads to his pelvis and 14,000 rads to his head according to reports. -
630p Crew evacuates to emergency evacuation building
450ft SE of the plant was an emergency containment center where Peabody ran to after removing all of his soaked clothes. His clothes read 100 mRems/hr at 15 ft away. Inside the containment building Peabody started showing signs of radiation exposure in the form of cramps and nausea. Authorities and an ambulance were called. -
Signs of deterioration
By Saturday afternoon Peabody's body had started to show signs of deterioration. His left arm started swelling more than his right. His wedding ring had to be cut off. He was so radioactive that his wife who briefly held his hand later contracted Lymphoma. -
720p Peabody slips into a coma and passes away
49 hours after the criticality event Peabody slips into a coma and passed away. His wedding ring recorded 700 rems of exposure. It was estimated that Peabody received a total 15,000 rads of exposure. -
Controlled re-entry
Assessment of decontamination requirements were conducted on the Monday following the accident. The Health and Safety Laboratory collected analytical data and the Atomic Energy Commission conducted an investigation that found 14 violations with 8 directly related to the criticality incident. -
Decontamination completed
The United Nuclear Corporation changed their name to UNC and reopened the plant in 1965 after decontamination Decontamination efforts were limited to the plant interior and close surrounding area. -
Environmental Impact
from 1966 to 1980 liquid waste radionuclides and other chemical solutes were leaked into the environment. The resulting environmental impact to local water sources were estimated to be 25,000 square feet and extended into the Pawcatuck River -
Wood River Junction Plant closed
In April 1981 the US Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of the groundwater contamination and found the resulting plume to span 23,000 ft long and 300 ft wide. Most concerning chemicals were:
Nitrate (x73 limit) - increased cancer risk and birth defects
Strontium-90 (x36 limit) - interferes with how Vitamin D and Calcium are stored and absorbed in the body. -
GE bought the land and gave it to the Nature Conservancy
In October 1995 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared the site safe. General Electric bought the land and gave 841 acres to the Nature Conservancy in 2001. -
Final cleanup efforts completed
Final clean up efforts and removal of chain-link barriers completed in 2014. The land is now the second largest nature preserve in Rhode Island and is hime to a variety of native bird species including the American Kestrel