Injuries from the PEPCON Explosion (1988) and Other Incidents
Abstract
An explosion at the PEPCON ammonium-perchlorate plant on May 4, 1988, in Henderson, Nevada, broke more than 10,000 windows and caused over $70 million damages to the Henderson-Las Vegas communities. A lawsuit by a conglomerate of insurors led to "discovery" of 77 claims for various injuries. Most of the 306 people treated at hospitals did not participate in this suit; their injury costs were apparently paid by medical insurance and not incorporated into the combined damage claim. Their records could not be obtained for analysis because of patient privacy considerations. Nevertheless, their number from the newspapers could be compared to window damage claims to show roughly one laceration victim per 100 broken window panes. Damage analyses led to a determination that the equivalent TNT yield of the largest and most damaging explosion was about 250 tons, surface burst. Weather conditions and glass damage claims were combined to provide a plan map of overpressure isobars for comparison with injury claims from the lawsuit. A number of examples are compared to results from other incidents.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA507024
Entities
People
- Jack W. Reed