Nuclear desaster in 1957

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk The Windscale piles provided material for nuclear weapons The radioactive fallout from a nuclear accident that rocked Britain 50 years ago was underestimated, scientists say. In 1957, a fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor in Cumbria led to a release of radioactive material that spread across the UK and Europe. But new research claims the incident generated twice as much radioactive material and caused dozens more cancers than was previously thought. The Windscale piles provided material for nuclear weapons Graphite overheated and fire broke out Air from fan fuelled fire Nuclear contaminants travelled up chimney Filter blocked some but not all contaminated material Radioactive cloud spread over UK and Europe Windscale: A nuclear disaster