The Worst Nuclear Disasters

The incident occurred when the graphite core of a British nuclear reactor caught fire near Cumberland.
Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis

Windscale Fire, October 10, 1957
The incident occurred when the graphite core of a British nuclear reactor caught fire near Cumberland. The fire resulted in a release of a significant amount of radioactive contamination. It would come to be known as the worst reactor accident until Three Mile Island.