A megaplant near the small village of Flixborough, England, is busy churning out a key ingredient of nylon 6, a material used in everything from stockings to toothbrushes to electronics. When a reactor vessel fails, the engineers improvise a quick-fix workaround, so the plant can keep up with demand. Before long, the temporary patch – a small, bent pipe – becomes a permanent part of the factory, and the people of Flixborough unknowingly drift towards disaster.
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Further reading
The Flixborough disaster. Report of the Court of Inquiry
Flixborough 1974 Memories. Essential eye-witness history from the North Lincolnshire Museum.
‘Fire and devastation’: 50 years on from the Flixborough disaster what’s changed? Chemistry World