Photo reveals nuclear slip-up
NZPA-Reuter Washington
The United States Department of Energy, formerly the United States Energy Research and Development Administration, has released a recently-declassified photograph of a nuclear accident at the Nevada test site about 175 km north of Las Vegas. The aerial photograph shows a plume of radioactive dust climbing 3000 metres skyward after its accidental venting from an underground test code-named Baneberry. The test was conducted on December 18, 1970. The test involved a
10 kilotonne device at the bottom of a 273 m-deep hole drilled into the desert floor at Yucca Flat. Although radiation was released unexpectedly, the device was small by nucleartest standards, and instruments indicated that the release posed no danger to the public. About 300 people at the site were exposed to the radiation, but none of them received exposures exceeding guidelines for workers. New contaminant procedures were adopted after an investigation of the Baneberry mistake.
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Press, 8 October 1977, Page 9
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153Photo reveals nuclear slip-up Press, 8 October 1977, Page 9
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