Abandoned Nuclear Facility | Wood River Junction Criticality Accident | Rhode Island
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2023
- Wood River Junction, Rhode Island was home to the United Nuclear Corporation Fuels Recovery Plant - constructed in 1963 and abandoned in 1981…what remains of it now is hidden away inside a nature preserve. It looks peaceful now, but back in 1964 this was the site of New England’s only known nuclear fatality, when a criticality accident occurred at the plant.
Filmed/Edited/Narrated by Jason Allard
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Sources:
Aerial Radiological Survey | rb.gy/5j8qk
United Nuclear Investigation Report | rb.gy/vdixj
British Journal of Radiology Multi Organ Failure Report | rb.gy/pz809
Federal Register Decontamination Report | rb.gy/svftd
US Dept of Energy Review of Criticality Accidents 2000 Revision | rb.gy/ogcgk
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The Wood River Junction Criticality Incident occurred at the United Nuclear Corporation Fuels Recovery Plant in 1964 and resulted in the only fatality in the private nuclear industry in America. The criticality incident took place when a technician, Robert Peabody, mistakenly poured highly concentrated enriched uranium into a mixer, causing a nuclear reaction and a small explosion. Peabody was exposed to a fatal dose of radiation and subsequently died from extreme radiation exposure.
How bad was the incident? Radiation levels at the facility were so high that the Geiger counters on-site couldn’t even measure them. Robert’s exact movements after the accident could be traced because he left behind radioactive footprints on the ground. The ambulance he took to the hospital had to be crushed and buried underground because it had absorbed so much radiation. And his wedding ring had to be removed because it had turned into radioactive gold.
The Atomic Energy Commission eventually found the company in violation of 14 safety regulations and the plant was shut down for decontamination, but reopened in February of 1965. As a settlement, the Peabody family received $22,000 dollars from the United Nuclear Corporation Fuels Recovery plant. as if that wasn’t insulting enough…in order to save face, the company placed the blame squarely on Robert Peabody.
The incident was basically swept under the rug and business continued here as usual until 1980, 16 years after Peabody’s death. When United Nuclear closed citing declining profits in 1980, leaks of radioactive water into the soil and groundwater had polluted the site of the plant. This put the site under the authority of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The federal government then began a multi million-dollar, decades-long decontamination of the 1,114-acre site. Fortunately, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared the site safe in October 1995. In 2011, state and federal officials determined no further clean-up action was required.
Despite the tragic history associated with the Wood River Junction incident, the land has been transformed into a nature preserve with public trails, providing a peaceful environment. The text concludes by reflecting on the role the location played in the history of nuclear energy in America and emphasizing nature's ability to forgive and bring peace to Robert Peabody's memory in Rhode Island.
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Do you think Robert Peabody deserved all of the blame for what happened?
Definitely not.
It’s a beautiful site. Maybe it should be named ‘Robert Peabody State Park’.
Hell NO and the UNC screwed Robert Peabody family over with a 22k settlement ... Mr Jason again one of your best videos this year you sir you are a National Rhode Island treasure
hell no! they done him dirty in the paperwork too!
@@harveygarbage8618 TYPICAL UNDERHANDED COMPANY POLICY 🙄
Thanks for bringing us this story. I grew up in Rhode island. I was born in 1966. I never knew this place existed. Nevermind the accident. It wouldn't surprise me shortcuts were overlooked due to Rhode Islands infamous unethical politics . It's horrible what happened to Robert.
i live in rhode island right now and have almost all of my life and i have never heard of this at all
@@amaionnaisewell that’s the majority of usa… severe lack of education.
free masons did abd hid this, changed the facts
I’ve lived in the Westerly, RI area, right next to Charlestown for over two decades and never knew this. My wife is born and raised in Wood River Junction. She also never knew this. Amazing how citizens of an area where an incident like this could happen, never knew, and it’s so swept under the rug, it takes an amazing UA-camr and videographer like yourself to teach us. Thanks brother! Amazing work as usual. ❤
That's right big daddy! I can't believe we didn't know.
Also a westerly resident here!
Oh interesting! Sounds like the company was pretty successful in spinning the story to keep it from spreading…
Probably because it didn't affect anything but the immediate vicinity of the plant. Yes someone died, but the effects were still very localized. To the newspaper this was only worthy of a side story and not front page news. Most likely the only people that remember this are people who worked there, and Robert's family.
@@johnmartin122187 oh course it effected the environment! That man died within hours!
As far back as the 70s this incident was taught in the EMT certification classes in RI. Learning about radiation exposure and the end result was sobering and never to be forgotten. There was never any judgement but only heartfelt sympathy for Mr. Peabody and his family from all of us.
Great bringing attention to this story Jason. I remember reading about this in Yankee magazine in the 80's. Mr. Peabody deserves to be remembered. Hard working family man just doing his job. Hints of blame on his name should be erased. This video will help.
I lived in RI as a young man and had a job in which I would collect water samples at United Nuclear among other duties. I had to wear all kinds of clothing and a badge showing how much exposure I had while there. This was a true tragedy and clearly a fault of poor management for not developing proper procedures and supervision. Thank you for this video.
My husband was a guard and whistleblower in the late seventies.
I worked security there from 1989-93. I wasn’t really aware what happened there until I started working security there. There was two office trailers with all kinds of documents and pictures being shredded that’s when I found all the information on what happened there. I was always in that tower where the accident happened and I didn’t even know it. I was always told by the one old timer that was still working security that the ambulance was buried out there. It is a beautiful spot with the Pawcatuck river running through it. I had access to all the 1100 acres it’s truly a great piece of land. I always dreamed of paying it and making a private hunting and fishing preserve. I’ve actually made a few videos on the area myself. Metal detecting there is old homesteads throughout the property. One nice one along the river. Great video I wish someone would but a plaque or something there in memory of peabody just a man doing his job. But I guess the would admit guilt on UNC part. I believe it was UNC fault for unsafe practices after reading all that stuff in the trailer before it got shredded. Great video! 🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆
It is a beautiful spot - on the river, in the woods!!!
The secrets we know. This comment should be saved and archived as record. Or else it will be lost in a few years with the way things are going, trying to hide the past and all..
I too worked security for UNC and conducted Tactical Response Training at Wood River. By the way, the ambulance was not actually buried out there.
My grandfather worked in this facility after the accident happened. He worked there from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.
Your grandfather didn’t know that the nuclear criticality that happened here is the person that got the most radiation?
I'd heard rumors about this place for ages. One such account from an electrician friend who was contracted to install a radiation monitor far from the plant and told not to mention it to anyone. Good to finally know the entire story. Thanks!
I remember hearing a story about a group of people in RI that attended the same high school and a large amount of these students developed a very rare form of brain cancer
Did you interview any of Mr. Peabodys children? I wonder if they're still living in that area. I have always been fascinated by this story and very sad for the family. May Robert Peabody rest in eternal peace.
A japaneese worker at a nuclear plant in japan died within 90 days with a similar accident...what a way to go,rip
Allardheimer
In all seriousness, your videos are so insightful and very impressive in their creativity and production value. I've lived in Rhode Island and have sought out all the strange and abandoned places around but have never heard of this one! Absolutely crazy how much dark stuff went on in this state during the 20th century alone. Thanks for this video! Never stop.
EDIT: I have literally lived in Charlestown and NEVER heard of this.
I lived in southern Rhode Island, during that time. It never was a big enough story in the papers, to be known by any of us.
Thank you for telling this story. I grew up in Wood River Junction, and I had NO clue this even existed
Don’t forget that Harry Daghlian died of a supercritical excursion during an experiment with the “demo core”. He was exposed on 8/21/1945 and died on 9/15/1945 of extreme radiation exposure. Also another casualty of the demo core was to happen to Louis Slotin who also died of a supercritical excursion. He was exposed on 5/21/1946 and died on 5/30/1946 of extreme radiation exposure. Both those incidents also happened in the United States.
A Japanese worker was in a super criticality incident and the doctors kept him.alive as he slowly died a horrible death of radiation sickness.
I was born in 1946 in nearby MA but was brought up in RI. I never heard of UNC or the accident. I joined the Navy in 1965 served on active duty until 1971, a total of six years. Went back to RI in 1972 and left that hell hole in 1977 and never went back!
this is behind my high school. I used to explore this place a lot. I remember getting a crazy headache while I was there
Good old Chariho.
Bullshit
You forgot SL1 in idaho. The super criticality accident and core steam explosion there killed three men.
There was also a secret train track that delivered the nuclear waste.
Do you know of any tracks off the mainline to the plant site? Would love to find them.
Not surprising
Yes, Mr Peabody was so accident prone they had him do this important, dangerous job. 🙄
A lovely detailed, sensitive retelling of the Wood River Junction tragedy. I was hoping on your walk to the old site, you'd bring a dosimeter with you to measure remaining radiation on the compound's footprint. Other UA-camrs do this, but as far as I know, not in the Eastern US.
Interesting how the site has no trees and the waste water zone has almost no grass. I wouldn't scratch around in that dirt.
That’s because the topsoil was scraped off and disposed of as hazardous waste.
I went to high school nearby and the only way I found out this place existed was through a photo in an old yearbook from the 70s that showed a local street sign referencing the plant. Thank you for the research and very well done video.
I’m kinda disappointed that you didn’t mention the supervisor who went back inside after the FIRST two events to try and dump the radioactive waste down the drain.
Magnificent work, Jason! I've lived in South County all my life and never knew about this facility or the accident.
Washington County
@@ziostregoneria6178 Looks like you're not from around these parts...
@@RIGeek. Looks like you don't have a clue.
@@ziostregoneria6178 South Kingstown is inside of Washington County.. Washington County is made up of multiple smaller towns...
@@EVGSTORE Duh! No one even mentioned South Kingstown. Do pay attention! Why people seek attention is beyond me. Rhode Island is in New England. Did you know that?
Hey was taken to WESTERLY hospital first. They refused him. The ambulance driver and medic in the ambulance died from complications as well.
My dad has told me this story many times while I was growing up. Also we lived not far away. It is also a known ufo sighting place.
I've heard about ufo sightings around there I wonder if they were around the same time?
In the 60's my mother worked evening shift at a nearby textile mill. During dinner break, she and her co-workers would often go there to watch for UFOs, and sometimes saw them.
I lived just down the road from this site by kings factory RD. This place is definitely known for UFO sightings by locals. It’s good to see others online confirm that 😅
Fascinating history! I never knew about this incident-just goes to show how well it was kept under wraps.
Unbelievable.. great documentation jason. Its so sad to hear what happened to Robert. His poor family!
Jason, thanks very much for this video. I am a retired Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer, so I've known the basic details of this accident for many years, but it was great to see all the additional material from your research and the footage of your site visit.
As i expect you noticed from LA-13638, "A Review of Criticality Accidents" there were many criticality accidents during the cold war. Military grade uranium and plutonium were precious strategic materials then and production pressures tended to discourage a slow and cautious approach to the development of safe processes and equipment. Today, we would say that Mr Peabody was "set up to fail" by shortfalls in plant and process design and in nuclear safety management.
Another masterpiece detailing Rhode Island’s long forgotten history. Please take a look at the deserted navy base on south Prudence Island. I have fond memories as a kid exploring the abandoned bunkers with no idea of it’s place in history.
That might be good - all the deserted islands in the bay have some history on them.
Very good video! I have lived in Rhode Island for my whole life and I heard about this nuclear accident. One of my parents was familiar with the incident but nothing more other than there was a singular death. This video helped clarify this and I look forward to your future videos/documentaries!
I lived about 2 miles from this site in the 70s/80’s/90’s. I remember going to non-nuclear demonstrations there in the early 80’s. @JasonAllard … I wonder if there is any correlation to illnesses/cancers, etc for families living near to, or particularly down river from this site, as the groundwater is tied to the Wood River, which is very close to this site???
Right Still Cancer Comes Never Cleaned UP All Lies Cover Up It Still Get In Ground Water & Dust In The Wind & Off Gas Too They Lie WE DIE
I am from Warwick RI. I grew up there in the 70s and 80s... I have never heard of this until this video...LOL
Wow I had no idea! What a tragic story and to think those execs at that company got away with that…not sure how they slept at night knowing it was pure negligence on their part not making sure everything was done correctly, unbelievable! That bit of injustice is the kind that yanks my chain
Well done. I had not heard of this incident. The term" unrequested fission bonus", is the dark humor phrase for these situations. If you look hard, you might still find europium 152 in the slab of building where the criticality occured.
I remember around 4 or 5 years ago someone posted a pic in a RI hiking Facebook group of a sign with the radiation warning symbol they came across while hiking around Alton Jones. Very fascinating find!
I had no idea this happened I would go fishing here all the time as a young man. That really breaks my heart for him and his family.
I think it's a stretch to say that nuclear power had been "proven economically viable".
The claims were that nuclear power would be too cheap to metre. The reality has been anything but, as this story demonstrates. The true cost of the nuclear industry has a very, very long tail.
I found out about this incident from the UA-cam channel Plainly Difficult a few years ago. Very interesting stuff and you did a great job presenting the facts.
PD does a much better job and doesnt stretch the truth like this guy here.
I think you did a great job, explaining what happened and honoring the man who died by telling his story
Thank you for this video, Mr. Allard. I just looked up the half life of Uranium 235, and it's stated to be 700 million years. That's unthinkable, really. 😩🤮Truly heartbreaking.
Thank you for showing this. I've lived in RI almost my whole life and never heard of this. Amazing how that company continued to operate. Today, the Peanody's would have owned the company. The negligence of the Comcast was on full display.
Great Video, It's nice to see this one covered by a Rhode islander.
Absolutely incredible ! A huge THANK YOU for your research and editing of the material and this video. I believe not many people knew about this including myself.
Great reporting. You didn't need formal education on atomic energy and nuclear processes. Your in-depth research gives you the creds to present this story. Thanks for sharing.
Actually the SL-1 incident happened in 1961 and killed three Army Technicians. It was so radioactive that they literally just bulldozed the site into a hole and buried it.
Great video Jason, that truly was a dark time in RI history. And as mentioned several times the 22k settlement was a travesty. May Mr. Peabody RIP 🙏
WOW such a tragic story of the "WORKING MAN "...
great job Jason, you must have done a Shit ton of homework on this one ...geez where did you find all the newspaper articles ? the library ?.?
Awesome job ...hope you brought your Geiger counter on your Exploration
Do a story on Balston Spa NY where the ignorant navy and the DoE dumped radioactive primary coolant into a well after the D1-G reactor was shut down !!!!
Fantastic story. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Holy hell was this well written and produced. Very well done.
This is comparable to the Tokaimura criticality incident during the late 90s in Japan.
Hisashi Ouchi is the Robert Peabody of Japan.
This is amazing. Thank you so much for bringing this out into public view. I've lived in ri for almost 30yrs & grew up in Massachusetts & have NEVER heard about this! 😮
Beautiful editing. And writing especially in that conclusion. I have lived in RI my whole life and never knew any of this! No wonder they made nuclear illegal here now haha
Awesome work . I can't imagine how many hours were put in for this 15 minute video . Thanks and keep up the good work !!
I live in Hopkinton, RI. Right west of wood river junction, RI
There are a couple newspaper articles easily found online. I’m surprised more people weren’t aware. I always knew about this growing up in Richmond.
nice work Jason . good watch
Another great video!!
I feel like the bottle issue could have been solved by having bottles painted different colours.
I grew up not far away in CT and this is the first I've ever heard of this.
This was fascinating Jason! Thanks for sharing this one...really enjoy the way you tell a story.
"History shows again and again how nature picks up the follies of man "- BOC.
I appreciate the hours of work put into this video and how awesome it is. Keep up the amazing work.
I never heard of this and I was 11 at the time. I wonder how many were really affected by this accident? Swept under the rug
Absolutely mind blowing story. Never heard of this at all. I’ve spent the majority of my life fishing and exploring the Wood River and never heard of this story! Incredible work.
Jason, this is a fantastically researched, narrated, and edited. This is so fascinating
Just read this article. I never knew this. At the time l was 13 yrs old. Thank you for researching this part of RI history. I'm sharing this with friends.
Thats nuts, I can't believe this happened in Charlestown! Great content!
Absolutely not! His family still deserves more compensation and clearing of his name than has been given!
Radioactive Drew could do a site survey of this place.
Incredible story. Incredibly well told and edited.
Great stuff as always
Unbelievably well done 👏
Love your content keep it up! I've lived in RI for a while and this is a part of its history I didn't even know. This channel is great.
Great video man.
I teach at the high school right near there. Thanks so much for this awesome documentary. Never heard of this accident!
This has gotta be one of your best videos to date, very good stuff
Mr Peabody, is just another person that got screwed for somebody else's mistake. And to think that I lived only 5 miles from there at one point.
I grew up right up in Alton, we used to go out there all the time
Awesome video! Very well put together. I enjoyed that!
There is now a beach in Newport named after Robert.
Wow! I have never even heard about this till I saw your post on Instagram. Did some research on it and find it mind blowing. Found your video on UA-cam. Very well done, you really did your homework. New Subscriber here!
Rhode Islander’s confused how we all know everyone but no one knew ANYTHING about this
I used to climb the fence and explore there when I was a kid in 1982 😮
And how are you feeling 40 years later? You still ok?
wow, I've lived in fall river my whole life and never heard about this
Once again you don’t disappoint!
Wow. Never heard of it. Not surprised either. In SOCAL, the Santa Susana Field lab was another site of nuclear shenanigans. Covered up for a long time and finally came to light not too long ago. Details can be found on the net.
And now Boeing owns it and refuses to do additional cleanup! Pretty sure united nuclear was a part of that too.
The enviro reporter website has chronicled the Santa Susanna lab nuclear contamination and coverup
Good for you Jason and good work!
Wow, this one I had never heard about until this video. Thanks for the video.
Did you say it was the only fatality in the US nuclear industry as a whole?
Because there have been quite a few criticality accidents and deaths in the US.
Also, when a mass of uranium goes critical, there is no explosion. Thees a flash of blue light and heat.
To be fair he said this was the only death in the private US nuclear industry - which is correct. The others were government/military
If you reflect enough neutrons back into the uranium the fission will continue and release extrememly large amounts of energy, that most people would cause an explosion.
Wow, this was so well done. Kudos!
I heard rumors about this place. Now I now the whole story. Nice job Jason.
i’ve hiked that whole trail and riden dirt bikes there my whole life had no idea about this
Thank you for sharing some great content! ❤
What a fascinating…and sad….video. As always s stellar presentation, thanks Jason!
United Nuclear made their money and then left it to the tax payer to clean up their mess.
Just like every other corp.
Went to high school about a mile away. Crazy how this never got brought up and i never heard of it in a decade of living right down the road.