| A concise historic account of the political manoeuvrings, engineering design shortfalls and an aura of secrecy which left the Windscale Pile operators in the dark, is given in this article. The author has included additional information concerning the incident which, until now, have been kept in the archives away from the public. The Wigner Effect and the operators' inexperience in its treatment have been generally blamed for the fire but later evidence suggested that a failed magnesiumlithium cartridge in an isotope channel was responsible for its initiation. The Penney Inquiry results and the subsequent Fleck Reports are explained along with the consequences on reactor designs which followed. The environmental and health effects of this reactor fire are also described.
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