British Nuclear Disaster Was A Threat To Europe

The truth about the greatest nuclear disaster in Europe has surfaced up 50 years after.

Great Britain is intensively debating these days about the construction of new nuclear drives in order to fight global warming with more efficiency. The already controversial discussion is complicated by the upcoming 50^th anniversary of the worst British nuclear accident – the Windscale fire.

In the night of October 10, 1057, a fire broke out in a small Cumbria village, Saescale. Only a few people knew this was no usual fire, but a nuclear accident which could have consequences for the entire Europe.

-Mankind has never faced such a situation before, there was nobody to advise us- Tom Tuohy, reactor manager who headed the crisis team that night, tells the BBC.

-All my life I have never been so scared – says Margaret Davis, whose husband participated in the crisis operation.

Radioactive cloud over Britain

The fire broke out due to an oversight with the graphite-moderator temperature control in the first British nuclear reactor. Radio-active pollution of the atmosphere occurred, which could get much worse. The worst thing about it is that there was no solution to the crisis in sight. If the fire is put out with water, the risk is even greater because the reactor might become a nuclear bomb. On the other hand, letting the reactor burn out was equally bad. The first option was chosen. After numerable attempts, the fire was put out, but a cloud of poisonous particles had already spread.

The incident was covered in a veil of darkness for a long time. It was only recently revealed what potential consequences could have occurred. According to the latest research by the BBC three days ago, twice as much radio-active material was produced during the Windscale fire than it was thought at first. The number of cancer victims caused by the accident was first estimated at 200, but according to the latest research, it is believed that 240 people became diseased with cancer. Nobody was evacuated from the site, but due to the concern that milk of local cows might be polluted, milk from the area of 500 squared miles from the accident site was destroyed.

Incident was kept quiet

The public did not panic, probably because nobody was aware what the consequences could have been.

Experts warned about the possibility of the accident even before the incident took place. Due to the desire to possess an atom bomb, governing politicians and the army ignored all the warnings. Britain was eager to keep up with the world forces in armament, and this was complicated after the US government lawfully banned giving information about its nuclear programme to other countries. British politicians have kept the real reasons of the incident secret for years from their US allies. For a long period of 50 years, the official reports stated that the main culprits for the accident were people who risked their lives to put out the fire.

I held it against them then and hoped the report would be corrected- said Peter Jenkinson, assistant physician of the reactor. Latest information of the investigation have been publicised and show how devastating this accident could have been. Later, it was only outmatched by the “Three Mile Island” incident in America and Chernobyl in Ukraine.