1961 - Report on the SL-1 Incident (+ videos)

This report summarizes the current information before the Board pertaining to the circumstances surrounding the explosion on January 3, 1961, within the reactor vessel of the SL-1 (ALPR) reactor plant. Prior to the incident, there appear to have been a continuing deterioration of the burnable poison strips within the core and a worsening of the scram performance of the control rod system, neither of which circumstances necessarily was directly related to the incident. The evidence strongly indicates a nuclear incident of 50 megawatt-seconds, or more, which could credibly have been induced by rapid and extensive motion of the central control rod. There is no evidence to show that the actions of the operators on duty were in any way different than those prescribed and which had been carried out without incident many times before. There were 3 immediate fatalities directly related to the event.

Interestingly, although the SL-1 reactor was a part of the program of the Army Reactors Branch, Division of Reactor Development, AEC, for the development of water reactors for military applications, the Department of Defense did not have the responsibility for this reactor, either under license or as a result of transfer of the reactor from the AEC according to the provisions of section 91b of the Atomic Energy Act.

The following 2 video's are available:

SL-1 Briefing Film (9 min) - MP4

SL-1 Event Desciption (40 min) - MP4 or OGV