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Document ID (ISN)29041
CIS number 78-611
ISSN - Serial title 0029-7909 - Occupational Hazards
Year 1976
Convention or series no.
Title Near-miss at Browns Ferry - A brush with nuclear catastrophe.
Bibliographic information Oct. 1976, Vol.37, No.11, p.36-38, Illus.
Abstract Description of a fire in a nuclear power plant in the USA. To protect employees and the vicinity from radioactivity a vacuum was maintained in the reactor and reactor building, thus preventing radioactivity from escaping in case of leakage. Cables and wires from the reactor to the control room passed through holes in the concrete wall, sealed airtight. Workers checking for air leaks in the wall held lighted candles to the holes through which the cables passed. If the airtight seal had broken they would pack polyurethane foam into the hole. On finding a leak they packed it with foam, but not tightly enough. When they again held the candle to the hole the vacuum sucked the flame into the hole and the foam ignited, spreading to the cables. The damage to the cables resulted in false information being conveyed to the control room (e.g. indicating that some emergency systems had started up when in fact they had not). Systems continued to fail one by one and the reactor had to be shut down. The article analyses why the chain of events lead to a near-catastrophe (faulty equipment, lack of preparedness, inadequate maintenance, faulty methods, etc.).
Descriptors (primary) nuclear power stations; fire
Descriptors (secondary) accident descriptions; cable tunnels
Document type -
Subject(s) Fire and explosions
Broad subject area(s)
Browse category(ies) Power generation and distribution
Fires