Tom Tuohy

Thomas Tuohy CBE (7 November 1917 – 12 March 2008) was deputy to the general manager at the Windscale nuclear facility when a major fire erupted on 10 October 1957. He was the leading participant in efforts to put out the fire which was emitting radioactive contamination into the air, and so played a key role in minimising Britain's worst nuclear disaster.[1][2]

For the American attorney, see Tom Tuohy (attorney).

Early life and career

Tuohy was born in Wallsend and educated at St Cuthbert's High School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Reading University.

During World War II he worked for the Royal Ordnance as a chemist, and in 1946 joined the nuclear industry, becoming deputy general manager of Windscale in 1957.

Windscale fire

On 10 October 1957 his boss phoned him at home where he was nursing a family sick with flu, saying: "Come at once. Pile number one is on fire." Leaving his wife and two children, he told them to stay indoors and keep all the windows closed.

At the factory he discarded his radiation recording badge, so that no one could tell him that he had exceeded permitted radiation dose limits, and made repeated inspections directly into the 80 ft pile. Over the next few hours he was instrumental in directing the efforts which eventually brought the blaze under control.[1]

Despite his excessive exposure to radiation that day, Tuohy lived to the age of 90.[3] He was appointed CBE in the 1969 New Years honours list.[4]

In 1990, the first of three BBC documentaries on the incident was shown. Titled Our Reactor Is on Fire, the documentary featured interviews with key plant workers, including Tom Tuohy.[5]

In 2007, the BBC produced another documentary about the accident titled "Windscale: Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster",[6] which investigates the history of the first British nuclear facility and its role in the development of nuclear weapons. The documentary features interviews with key scientists and plant operators, including Tom Tuohy. The documentary suggests that the fire – the first fire in any nuclear facility – was caused by the relaxation of safety measures, as a result of pressure from the British government to quickly produce fissile materials for nuclear weapons.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Thomas Tuohy: Windscale manager who doused the flames of the 1957 fire". Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  2. "Tom Tuohy". Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  3. BBC (1999). "Disaster - The Windscale Fire" (TV Documentary). Series 3: BBC Two. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. "No. 44740". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1968. p. 10.
  5. "Our Reactor is on Fire (1990)". The BFI. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  6. Paul Dwyer (5 October 2007). "Windscale: A nuclear disaster". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  7. "BBC documentary reveals government reckless in drive for the production of nuclear weapons". WSWS. 29 April 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2022.


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