Thunderous Explosion At U.S. Nuclear Plant

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30289, 15 November 1963, Page 29

Thunderous Explosion At U.S. Nuclear Plant

fN,Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SAN ANTONIO (Texas), November 14. About 13 tons of a chemical high explosive erupted with a thunderous roar yesterday at the Atomic Energy Commission’s Medina, Texas, nuclear weapons plant, shattering windows 10 miles away in San Antonio, United Press International reported. There was no radiation danger, officials emphasised. Officials reported three men "superficially” injured. They were able to walk away from the blast. Residents of the area, apparently fearing an atomic explosion fled by car and on foot. The blast occurred in an igloo storage shed housing explosives. An. Atomic Energy Commission spokesmen said the explosive consisted mostly of T.N.T. The explosion sent a column of smoke billowing 1000 feet into the sky. Workers'in a building 20 miles from the scene reported the blast blew the doors open. . ■ Nuclear explosives are kept at Medina, but the base does

not have an atomic reactor. The three workmen storing ths explosive in the igloo noticed a flash from one container. They fled across a ditch. The reason the men escaped with only minor injuries was the Special design of the igloo. It was built so that in an explosion the roof would blow out first and channel the major part of the blast skywards. There was some "enriched uranium” in the igloo, but it was dissipated as dust into the air by the blast and is harmless, according to an A.E.C. information officer. The Medina project tests, assembles, repairs and disposes of nuclear weapons components in an 18 million dollar plant complex. It employs about 600 persons.