Nuclear Accident Fatality. At the time of his death, his rank was Specialist 4th Class, United States Army serving with the Engineer Corps as a 52H-Nuclear Power Plant Mechanic Operator. On January 3, 1961 at 9:01pm, alarms sounded at the fire station and security headquarters of the U.S. National Reactor Testing Station where the reactor was located. First responders found two operators dead and a third mortally wounded. They detected extremely high radiation levels in the building and debris indicating an explosion had occurred. This was the world's first fatal nuclear reactor accident; a control rod had been manually withdrawn too far causing the small, 3MW experimental Army reactor called SL-1 (Stationary Low-Power Plant No. 1) near Arco, Idaho to overheat and be destroyed. Two others besides McKinley were killed in the explosion: Army Specialist 5 John Arthur Byrnes III and Navy Construction Electrician 1st Class Richard Carlton Legg. McKinley was the youngest at twenty-two years old. He had joined the military in 1957. Korean Conflict veteran. He also earned a Cold War Certificate. An investigation into the cause of the accident changed the nuclear power programs of the US forever. Numerous recommendations followed the investigation into the cause of the accident to ensure that all future nuclear reactors would be safe. There has never again been a fatal nuclear accident in the United States, attributable in large part to the lessons learned from the SL-1 accident.
Nuclear Accident Fatality. At the time of his death, his rank was Specialist 4th Class, United States Army serving with the Engineer Corps as a 52H-Nuclear Power Plant Mechanic Operator. On January 3, 1961 at 9:01pm, alarms sounded at the fire station and security headquarters of the U.S. National Reactor Testing Station where the reactor was located. First responders found two operators dead and a third mortally wounded. They detected extremely high radiation levels in the building and debris indicating an explosion had occurred. This was the world's first fatal nuclear reactor accident; a control rod had been manually withdrawn too far causing the small, 3MW experimental Army reactor called SL-1 (Stationary Low-Power Plant No. 1) near Arco, Idaho to overheat and be destroyed. Two others besides McKinley were killed in the explosion: Army Specialist 5 John Arthur Byrnes III and Navy Construction Electrician 1st Class Richard Carlton Legg. McKinley was the youngest at twenty-two years old. He had joined the military in 1957. Korean Conflict veteran. He also earned a Cold War Certificate. An investigation into the cause of the accident changed the nuclear power programs of the US forever. Numerous recommendations followed the investigation into the cause of the accident to ensure that all future nuclear reactors would be safe. There has never again been a fatal nuclear accident in the United States, attributable in large part to the lessons learned from the SL-1 accident.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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