re: #96 steve_davis

Don’t forget the reckless moron who discovered why the two pieces of plutonium were only supposed to get moved using the shims, after his screwdriver slipped and he took something like 200 sieverts by the time he managed to separate them again. In fairness, some reckless moron then did the same damned thing the same damned way months later, as I recall.

The cause of the first incident involving the Demon Core was because Daghlian dropped a tungsten brick on it. The cause of the second has been attributed to using a screwdriver instead of the shims, but there are dissenting voices that point to Slotyn’s hand may have altered the characteristics of the Be reflector. Also, it was a single sphere of plutonium. Be reflectors in the second case.