New Scientist (preview only, sub for full article) and The New York Times report that British Cabinet documents, published under regulations governing the release of secret papers after 30 years, reveal that then then British Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, suppressed knowledge that the plume from the fire at the atomic processing plant at Windscale (now known as Sellafied) spread over large areas of Europe, as well as the UK.
Scientists have now established that radioactivity was blown east over Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and north over Scandinavia.
Why are we not surprised?
Let the Facts Speak (part of a larger peace website), which lists nuclear incidents since 1947, has this to say about the fire at Windscale (now Sellafied). It has several typos, but is otherwise well sourced.
17. 1957, October - WINDSCALE No 1, U.K.
Fire caused by human error and defective procedures resulted in eleven tons of uranium being ablaze, releasing a vast cloud of radio-isotopes from the melted fuel. Milk from an area of more than 500 square kilometers (approx. 2 million litres) was poured into the rivers and sea as unsafe for human consumption. Farmers were compensated by the Government, but how many people living near Windscale were affected is not known. Nor is it known how much radioactivity descended over Westmoreland and Cumberland. Local inhabitants say there is a high incidence of cancer deaths in the area, but the Government did not carry out any medical or statistical checks. Both Windscale reactors have since been filled with concrete and entombed. The radioactive cloud reached up to Denmark. In London, 500 km from Windscale the radioactivity reached 20 times the normal level. Report of enquiries into safety was never published. (Sources s A. Gyorgy p.1198/S. Novick). However a previously classified report released in 1989, revealed that the MacMillan Government invested large amounts of money to finance a concerted pro-nuclear campaign which included scientists traversing U.K., assuring people that the accident was insignificant. (W. Australian May 1989).
Official documents were also released under the 30 year rule in 1987.
Let The Facts Speak quotes from these also.
Windscale (later named Sellafield) was producing Plutonium for military use. The fire broke out at one of its atomic piles -primitive reactors in which containers of uranium were irradiated to produce the Plutonium. It raged for 16 hours. The Windscale cloud contaminated large areas of Britain and Ireland, and contained more than 600 times as much radioactive iodine as was released during the Three Mile Island accident. Authorities at the time decided not to evacuate local people even though they were exposed to radiation levels 10 times the allowed LIFETIME dose - within a matter of hours. The only one safeguard taken to health was the destruction of two million litres of contaminated milk from farms around Windscale. However, it has now been revealed that milk with contamination up to three times the official danger limit was released for human consumption. (”Swedish News Service”, “Financial Times” 2 Jan. 1988, “Observer” (U.K.) 3 Jan 1988, “Daily Telegraph” (U.K.) 2 Jan 1988, “Guardian” (U.K.) 4 Jan 1988, WISE 285.
Just so you know.
