The US Chemical Safety Board have released their report into the 2009 accident at NDK's synthetic crystal growing facility in Belvidere IL < http://www.csb.gov/assets/1/19/CSB_CaseStudy_NDK_1107_500PM.pdf > It also describes the process.
Basically a 50ft autoclave failed, killing a member of the public at a rest stop 650ft away. Looks like management decisions, probably based on cost, overriding engineering advice even following an earlier minor incident. The letters from a consulting engineer in the annex make interesting reading. It illustrates the importance of those professional engineers amongst us notifying and recording any safety issues we discover. The facility is still shut down and the insurance company won't settle as NDK were told of possible issues. Robert G8RPI. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
