--- title: "This E-4’s grave is the most dangerous gravesite in the world" description: "In what some have alleged was a murder-suicide, U.S. Army Spc. Richard McKinley moved a nuclear control rod with his bare hands. " date: "2020-04-29" modified: "2026-01-26" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/worlds-most-dangerous-gravesite/" categories: - "History" tags: - "Army" - "Veterans" --- # This E-4’s grave is the most dangerous gravesite in the world ![Gravesite of Spc. richard McKinley]() *Spc. Richard McKinley lies in a lead-lined casket, covered in concrete, and sealed in a metal box.* In January 1961, the U.S. Army suffered its only nuclear accident and the only fatal nuclear accident in the United States. The accident was caused by the manual removal of a control rod in a nuclear reactor in Idaho. The resulting explosion killed two Army specialists and a Navy Electrician's Mate. One of the Army specialists, Richard McKinley, was so irradiated that his body had to be interred in a lead-lined casket, covered in cement, and placed in a metal vault before burial. The special grave is now at Arlington National Cemetery, where it is under constant watch and may not be moved without permission [from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission](). ![Arlington National Cemetery]() *He lies among the thousands of non-irradiated gravesites. (Arlington National Cemetery)* The official cause of the explosion was ruled an accident, although some suspect it might have been a suicide due to the nature of the accident (and some even called it a murder-suicide). In the nighttime hours of January 3, 1961, three enlisted men working the reactor at an experimental Idaho-based Reactor Testing Station were killed when one of the nuclear core's control rods was removed manually. That is to say, one of the men removed the uranium-235 control rod some 50 centimeters—with his bare hands. Just 40 centimeters was enough to send the reactor to critical. And it did send the reactor critical, immediately unleashing 20,000 megawatts in .01 seconds, causing the nuclear fuel to melt. The melted uranium began interacting with the water in the reactor, producing a violent explosion of steam that caused part of the core to rise three meters into the air. ![Photo of Spc. Richard McKinley]() *Richard McKinley* Army Specialist John Byrnes and Navy Electrician's Mate Richard Legg were also killed in the incident, the first and only deadly nuclear incident on U.S. soil. They were buried in their hometowns. Specialist Richard McKinley would have to be buried elsewhere – somewhere his irradiated body could not harm anyone else. When the specialist removed the control rod by hand, he had already absorbed enough radiation to kill him a few times over but the resulting steam explosion sent the rod flying through his body, contaminating it with long-life radioactive isotopes. He was placed in a lead casket, covered in concrete, and sealed in a metal container. His body now rests [in Arlington National Cemetery](). Along with the delivery of the body came the orders from the Assistant Adjutant General of Arlington Cemetery: **"Victim of nuclear accident. Body is contaminated with long-life radio-active isotopes. Under no circumstances will the body be moved from this location without prior approval of the Atomic Energy Commission in consultation with this headquarters."** ### Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty ##### • [Big Tech wants the Navy’s old nuclear reactors to power the AI revolution]() ##### • [‘A House of Dynamite’ makes hard nuke questions accessible to everyone]() ##### • [These Air Force ‘rods from God’ could hit with the force of a nuclear weapon]() ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()