Re: SL-1 accident

[MCNAUGHT@lanl.gov (Mike McNaughton)]

I very much appreciate the detailed response from J. J. Rozental, and the
many recent references, which I will try to obtain. 

A great deal has been said about the actions of the operators; this is
appropriate because the primary objective is to prevent the accident from
happening. Much less has been said about the firemen. 

J. J. Rozental writes:
>You are wrong: Number of fireman who died in the acute phase of radiation
>syndrome were 28. --

Not all of these were "firemen". I believe only 6 were firemen in the strict
sense; the others were reactor operators, electrical operators, people who
were on shift, and people who responded in a variety of roles.

It was pointed out that a health physicist received a medal for bravery at
SL-1, and therefore the response was not "cautious". However, I would like
to focus on the firemen, who seem to have received less attention than other
personnel. Specifically:

1. It seems that the 6 firemen who died at Chernobyl may have been less
cautious than they should have been, perhaps because they were inadequately
trained and equipped. In the dozen or so documents I have read so far on
Chernobyl, I have seen only a few sentences which address the training of
the Chernobyl firemen. 

2. It seems that the the firemen at SL-1 were more cautious than those at
Chernobyl. In the 7 documents on SL-1 I have read so far, I have found only
a few sentences about the actions or the training of the firemen. 

"Fire departments" may also have responsibility for emergency rescue, first
aid, and ambulance service. If this was the case in 1961 at SL-1, then I
would expect the firemen to have taken a major role in the rescue. However,
it seems that most of the actions at SL-1 were taken by health physicists
and supervisors. This suggests that the firemen were "on the cautious side". 

Perhaps the extent or adequacy of the training is related to the different
responses of the firemen at SL-1 compared with Chernobyl. 

I will try to obtain the recent documents you recommended. Thank you. mike

"Shlala gashle" (Zulu greeting meaning "stay safe") mike