By Richard T. Cartwright, PE, CHMM, (IHMM, AHMP and APICS) Fellow
The saying, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is more than a cliché. It is a reminder that we must constantly be learning from the past. Here’s a look back at major historical events that happened today in the world of hazardous materials.
January 3, 1961
An experimental atomic reactor exploded near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where three workers died. It was the first fatal U.S. nuclear accident, which occurred when an 80-pound control rod was lifted by hand beyond its safe position, causing a core meltdown and reactor explosion. It took four days to devise a safe method to recover one of the corpses. All three bodies were extremely radioactive, causing problems for their burial. The clean-up took 18 months. Investigators were never able to determine why this abnormal act occurred. Two decades later, a documentary speculated that one of the men, who had marital problems, sabotaged the reactor.
January 3, 1924
A Corn Products Plant in Pekin, Illinois had a major combustible corn dust explosion, killing 42 men. Just after 3:30 a.m., workers returned to their posts to go about everyday business. A burning bearing inside a piece of machinery caused a small explosion. The shockwaves from the initial explosion pushed corn dust into the air. Less than 5 minutes after the first explosion, the dust in the air caught fire and caused a much larger explosion, collapsing the starch packing house and severely damaging surrounding buildings.
January 3, 1919
Ernest Rutherford, a British scientist born in New Zealand, succeeded in splitting the atom. This was accomplished by bombarding nitrogen atoms with alpha particles, which transmuted nitrogen atoms into oxygen. In 1997, Rutherfordium (element 104) was named after him.
January 3, 1871
Cleveland Abbe, an American meteorologist, became the chief scientist at the newly formed U.S. Weather Service. He established a scientific foundation for the meteorological study of forecasting, climatology and physical theory.
January 3, 1823
Robert Whitehead, a British engineer, was born. He invented the first modern self-propelling torpedo, which was propelled by a compressed-air engine. A self-regulating device kept the torpedo carrying 18 pounds of dynamite at a constant pre-set depth.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
