The 1946 laboratory accident involving a plutonium core. The consequences of bypassing safety protocols. May 21, 1946. This is not a strategic device. This is a 6.2-kilogram thermodynamic system held in check by a standard flathead screwdriver. Louis Slotin calls this procedure "Tickling the Dragon’s Tail." A manual test of criticality margins. The protocol requires safety shims to prevent full closure. He refuses them. Instead, he relies on the friction of a steel tool against a beryllium shell

La triste et fulgurante mort de l'expert en plutonium qui tritura le «noyau du diable»

Louis Slotin was a brilliant physicist at Los Alamos, but he was a cowboy. He performed a dangerous experiment called "Tickling the Dragon's Tail," where he used a simple flathead screwdriver to keep two halves of a beryllium sphere apart. Inside was a plutonium core. If the halves touched, the core would go critical. On May 21, 1946, in front of seven other scientists, his screwdriver slipped. The shells snapped shut. Instantly, a flash of blue light filled the room. Slotin jerked his hand back

Louis Slotin Biography | Pantheon