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United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority: Committee of Inquiry into the Accident at...

Description and record details

Reference AB 86
Title United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority: Committee of Inquiry into the Accident at Windscale No 1 Pile on 10 October 1957: Records and Exhibits
Date 1950-1989
Description

This series includes the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Accident at Windscale No 1 Pile on 10 October 1957, files from earlier record series and metallic objects affected by the accident.

Held by The National Archives, Kew
Legal status Public Record(s)
Language

English

Physical description 104 files and cases
Access conditions Open unless otherwise stated
Immediate source of acquisition

from 1987 United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Custodial history AB 86/1-16 are audio tapes; in March 2013 they were transferred to the British Library Sound Archive (with the new references G10/01/01-16).
Administrative/ biographical background

The Committee of Inquiry was set up by the Chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Lord Plowden, under the Chairmanship of Sir William Penney, KBE, FRS, Director of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston, and a full member of the UKAEA.

The members of the committee of inquiry were:Dr B F J Schonland, CBE, FRS, Deputy Director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, HarwellProfessor J M Kay, MA, PhD, AMIMechE, AMIMChemE, Professor of Engineering (Nuclear), Imperial College of Science and TechnologyProfessor J Diamond, MSc, WhSch, MIMechE, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Manchester UniversityThe secretary to the committee was Mr D E H Peirson, Secretary of the UKAEA.

The terms of reference of the committee were:To investigate the cause of the accident at Windscale No 1 Pile on October 1957 and the measures taken to deal with it and its consequences; and to report.

The inquiry opened of 17 October 1957, seven days after the accident, and took evidence from 37 witnesses on eight of the nine days from 17 to 25 October 1987. The committee's report was completed on 26 October 1957 and submitted to Lord Plowden.