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On this day in 1976: Hanford worker survives record radiation exposure, becomes ‘The Atomic Man’

By Shawn Garrett, KIRO 7 News

Radioactive Waste Cleanup Continues At Hanford Nuclear Reservation RICHLAND, WA - JUNE 30: A sign is seen as you enter the world's largest environmental cleanup project at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation June 30, 2005 near Richland, Washington. The 586-square-mile site, located along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington, was a plutonium production complex that played a key role in the nation's defense beginning in the 1940's with the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb and continued for 40 years. The cleanup of the Hanford site is under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy with annual cleanup costs of $2 billion and an estimated total cost of $50 billion to $60 billion. (Photo by Jeff T. Green/Getty Images) (Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)

By Shawn Garrett, KIRO 7 News

On August 30, 1976, Harold McCluskey, a chemical operator at the Hanford nuclear weapons plant, survived what is considered one of the highest doses of radiation exposure ever recorded.

The incident occurred when a chemical reaction caused an explosion in the Plutonium Finishing Plant, also known as Z Plant, showering the 64-year-old with nitric acid and radioactive materials.

McCluskey, who was working inside a glove box at the time, inhaled a staggering amount of americium-241, a radioactive byproduct of plutonium, estimated to be 500 times the occupational safety standard.

The explosion left McCluskey severely contaminated, blinded, and cut by shards of glass from the shattered glove box.

He was quickly removed from the scene and placed into a specially designed steel and concrete isolation tank to protect others from exposure.

Despite the severe contamination, Dr. Bryce Breitenstein and his medical team managed to flush approximately 80% of the radioactive material from McCluskey’s body using an experimental drug known as zinc DTPA.

Over the next five months, McCluskey remained in isolation, receiving intensive treatment that included being scrubbed down three times a day and having every inch of his body shaved to remove radioactive particles.

Against all odds, McCluskey survived and eventually returned home, earning the nickname “The Atomic Man.”

He retired with a $275,000 settlement and lifelong medical care.

McCluskey lived for another 11 years before passing away in 1987 from causes unrelated to the accident.

The room where the explosion occurred, later dubbed the “McCluskey Room,” remained primarily sealed off due to high levels of radioactivity.

In 2014, nearly four decades after the incident, cleanup efforts began to prepare the room and the entire Plutonium Finishing Plant for demolition.

The process, expected to take a year, involved workers donning specially designed radiation suits to safely handle and remove contaminated equipment.

Hanford, once a significant site for plutonium production during the Cold War, is now the focus of one of the nation’s most extensive environmental cleanup efforts.

Harold McCluskey’s story is a remarkable tale of survival and a reminder of the dangers of nuclear materials.

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