January 3 – The Nuclear Accident That Jumped: America’s Weirdest Reactor Disaster

On January 3, 1961, an experimental nuclear reactor in Idaho suffered a catastrophic accident so powerful it caused the reactor vessel to jump nearly nine feet into the air. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy tells the haunting true story of the SL-1 nuclear disaster — the routine maintenance task that went tragically wrong, the rescue that exposed responders to deadly radiation, and the Cold War secrecy that kept this event largely forgotten. A chilling reminder of how small mistakes can lead to enormous consequences.

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