Britain's Chernobyl: The Windscale Nuclear Disaster | Windscale 1957 | Spark
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- After man harnessed the power of nuclear energy at the end of WW2, the world's richest countries began to start their own nuclear programs. Britain was one of these countries, building the Windscale nuclear power plant. This would soon spell disaster and the site would be the location of the world's first nuclear disaster.
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While In Gallaudet University as the undergraduate college student in beginning of fall semester of 1972, I read Science Digest magazine about Windscale Nuclear-Power Plant accident in United Kingdom happening on October 10, 1957. Then I told my college professor of P.E. (Physical Education) about it in my classroom, I learned about dangers of the nuclear-power plants as environment issues as I brought one best paper back from the newsstand store in Georgetown, DC in the area of Washington, DC.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the accident occurred in Three-Mile Island Nuclear- Power Plant on March 1979 when our US President Jimmy Carter who experienced as the nuclear engineer as he was in US Navy submarine in his early military backgrounds previously in a fact. He helped the nuclear engineers and other teams to prevent the meltdown of Three- Mile Island Nuclear- Power plant from explosion to commit radioactive winds to out spreading over the larger zones in Pennsylvania successfully. Now Three-Mile Island Nuclear-Power plant is permanently closed- no longer operated in service.
Carter visited the plant to help calm the public and reassure them that it was not going to explode. Three Mile Island was an embarrassing episode, but it was pretty much safely contained. Now it is closed like many nuclear plants, but fossil fuels continue. Not a great outcome.
The complex at TMI is now set to reopen in 2028 under Microsoft to be used to power data centers and AI technology programs. Not sure the type of reactor to be used, most likely a SMR. It's pretty interesting given the history of the site. There was another accident in America that's not well know, Westinghouse owned and operated a reactor in Madison, Pennsylvania that had a partial meltdown in the 60s. Considering I grew up in the area, the next town over, and went past it every day when I was in middle school.. it has since been used as a research and training reactor until it's subsequent decommissioning and dismantling in the 2010s.
[00:00:02]1 Introduction to the nuclear age and the bombing of Hiroshima.
[00:01:00]2 Britain’s development of their own atomic bomb at Windscale.
[00:01:22]3 The Windscale accident, the world’s first nuclear accident.
[00:03:35]4 The Trinity test, the world’s first nuclear explosion.
[00:04:02]5 The impact of the atomic bomb on World War II and the subsequent arms race.
[00:05:01]6 Britain’s entry into the nuclear club and the challenges faced.
[00:06:05]7 Postwar Britain’s weakened state and the decision to pursue a nuclear policy.
[00:07:00]8 The choice of plutonium for the British weapon and the risks involved.
[00:10:25]9 Warnings about the potential for a fire in British reactors.
[00:15:00]10 The Soviet Union’s progress in nuclear weapons development.
[00:21:44]11 The process of releasing Wigner energy and the onset of the Windscale fire.
[00:30:01]12 The fight to extinguish the fire and the release of radioactivity.
[00:34:01]13 The aftermath of the fire and the assessment of radioactive dangers.
[00:39:51]14 Reflection on Britain’s nuclear program and its costs.
[00:41:01]15 The misinterpretation of an American accident that led to safety measures at Windscale.
[00:45:00]16 The British explosion of their first hydrogen device post-Windscale fire.
44:53 I love the way Tom Touhy referrs to the piles as if they were old friends.
OK, let me get this straight. If you have a reactor and the coolant fails, you get an atomic bomb? Please don't say such stupid things.
you get a bomb but not a nuclear one, see chernobyl. in pwr reactors you dont get a bomb at all really, it shuts itself down
@bobmilburn5296 yeah, it's a completely different system.
Criticality on its own wont explode, it'll just ooze death.
You realize the only reason you know that you don't get an atomic bomb is because these scientists figured that out. So the only true stupid thing said was you saying dont say such stupid things.
The Hanford reactors wouldn't become "atomic bombs."
Any remaining water in the core would flash to steam and over pressurise the process tubes.
This would eject most of the fuel out of the back of the reactor.
Not good, but not an atomic bomb.
This documentary sounds like i should be watching it in 7th grade science class in like 1995
Well Gin that might be because he is actually a real narrator unlike these amazingly loud and obnoxious narcissists who must be center camera all the time we are subjected to these days.
Oh and don't let all those actual facts upset that amazing room temperature IQ of yours. All that is for the actual grownups in the room.
And in the spirit of helping you Gin: "It's best to keep your mouth shut and let people think your a fool than it is to open your mouth and prove them right. Hope this helps Gin.😎
Yeah, its cool asf
I'm *Overwhelmed* at the support from a *_Niche_* Community below, bringing a surprising angle on Nuculer NRG!
Ai I think mate, there's three with Nudy handle pics, joined up in last day
Oppenheimer was never delighted at the explosion from the Trinity Test. He was horrified.
i thought it was the jewish who wanted it developed before Hitler
About 22 minutes into this documentary it said it was apparent the PILES WERE ON FIRE .
Eh.. nothing new , many blokes have experienced that 🤡
Oppenheimer was horrified when he saw the test bomb explode ?
Little too late Oppy .
Ask the civilians in Japan “ were you horrified “
@@markbahouth2713 Oppy no better than the Nazis
All about Britains standing within the Nuclear race, with saving face and nothing about what actually happened to the farmers, the land beyond, where the airborne plumes were carried the subsequent fallout and how radioactive the zone is today.
Not the first time Brits were handling a new form of energy without knowing how to measure side effects and safety parameters. 100 years earlier, a steam engine exploded on one of Brunel's great iron steam ships at the offset of her maiden voyage.
When we see the old engines, its clear they hadn't nearly enough pressure gauges. The thinking may have been to build them as strong & heavy as possible so no amount of pressure could cause any failure.
"100 years earlier, a steam engine exploded on one of Brunel's great iron steam ships at the offset of her maiden voyage."
First: that was in 1859 and steam engines had been in use since 1712, so hardly a new thing.
Second: Castle Bravo.
"When we see the old engines, its clear they hadn't nearly enough pressure gauges."
You've never seen a steam engine in your life.
"The thinking may have been to build them as strong & heavy as possible so no amount of pressure could cause any failure. "
You are A.I.. An actual human is not this stupid.
I wouldn't bet on it... So... Edward Teller warned them, right? When one of the smartest Guys around who also has EXPERIENCE warns You, You better listen damn well. Even if this smart Guy is a traumatized and paranoid Man. But no, we are Brits. How dare You to tell us, what to do.
Stacking conditions of high energy nuclei resulting in criticality level and cascacading effect. 🙄
Don't Starma look like William Penny
33:54
Actually, Major Thomas Ferebee had to live with actually pushing the button that dropped Little Boy.
If I'm not mistaken he didn't know exactly what he was doing until after it happened which might make it easier
Believe me you there's nothing worse than your piles going on fire.
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🤬 I hate when documentaries r lazy n use the wrong 📹 video footage of the 💣 bombing of Nagasaki for Hiroshima n 🔁 vice versa... Do ya 📚homework ppl.
THEY HAD TO BE STOPED
Yes they did..but I am v tired of mankind..and their constant destruction of each other we must all stop killing .hurting maiming each other..maybe some day..maybe
@@PamelaAnderson-bw9hs I. Agree.
@@PamelaAnderson-bw9hs are. You. Important
@@rosariodagosto6484 Are. You. A.I.
They should have just put it Scotland.
Dat not right😮
10:30
WWII economically killed England. In 1940 they stood up to Germany alone. Its sad.
That's far less compared to what you did to India for 200 years. Your money for war came through us millions of Indians fight war for you, you won't even mentioned them.
After England plundered and pillaged and colonized half the world for the better part of a millennia they karmically had it coming.
Naturally the Soviet Union bails out the planet by defeating the nazis at a massive human cost and the West repays them by trying to relentlessly destroy them. lol. shameful
USA, France and the rest of the commonwealth: Are we a joke to you?
@@denniskrenz2080 USA wasn't involved in the war in 1940.
@@sebinsebastian9404 The Brits don't even acknowledge that the Canadians, South Africans or ANZACs made up a significant amount of what they call "British forces". The battles against Rommel's Afrika Corps for example had a substantial number of Australian, New Zealand and Indian units with South African support taking part, but this is rarely acknowledged.
Very few people know about this just because this disaster didn't happened in Russia or any other 3rd world country
Bullsh… Fukushima e.g is neither Russia or Africa or India.
People do not even know where chernobyl is on the map, what are you talking about? Everyome who is looking into modern history knows about it.
@@zaxarispetixos8728you mean americans.. americans dont know any place that isnt MURICA.. everyone else, especially europeans are very well able to point at a place a tad north of kiev...
Plenty of people know about it. There are plenty of TH-cam uploads about windscale with nearly 1 million views. Seems like you're just looking for a reason to be a smartass.
Maybe it is lesser known because it happened in 1957 and was overshadowed by 3 Miles Island and Tschernobyl afterwards...
crazy how fast they started developing knowledge and technologies off the Nazis
Please reacto to October ends Damaged
Baby shit compared to Chernobel
Hardly a disaster . Click bait
The Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in the United Kingdom's history, and one of the worst in the world, ranked in severity at level 5 out of 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
Windscale fire at Sellafield (United Kingdom), 10 October 1957. Annealing of graphite moderator at a military air-cooled reactor caused the graphite and the metallic uranium fuel to catch fire, releasing radioactive pile material as dust into the environment. 100 to 240 cancer deaths were caused by the incident.
Bro what are you talking about wind scale was terrible It was a five out of seven on the INES scale and that's only because Britain covered up basically all of the truth about how bad the contamination was The only thing that is worse is Chernobyl and Fukushima this is much much much much worse than 3 mi island or even the mayak disaster
Windscale had several radioactive discharges before 1957. The British government definitely downplayed the 1957 accident in order to maintain good relations with America. If it wasn't for Cockcroft and his Follies, the NW of England would be a wasteland.
@@Unschaerferelation137
It was later raised to INES level 6. It was pretty serious. But the UK did what the UK does. Swept it under the rug with a stiff upper lip.
Because of wokeness they would have to call that plane "enola homosexual" now
U sure it wouldn't be "gender fluid"?
Nah man it have to be gender free remember I as a gay man can’t be gay due to this new woke bs the plane would be “emotional neutral” and only referred to as it/that pronouns
If it wasn't for wokeness you'd have nothing interesting to say and no jokes to tell boomer. Your whole life revolves around woke existence.
"Enola Happy" which is kind of odd for a plane that was involved in the killing of so many people.