On 10 October 1957 Tuohy was at home, looking after his family, who had flu. He received a telephone call from his boss saying, "Come at once. Pile number one is on fire." On his arrival at Windscale, he removed his radiation recording badge, making it impossible for anyone to know if he had exceeded
permitted radiation dose levels, and made repeated inspections directly into the 80 ft pile. Over the next few hours he was instrumental in directing the efforts which eventually brought the blaze under control. He was appointed
CBE in the 1969 New Years honours list. In 1990, the first of three BBC documentaries on the incident was shown. Titled
Our Reactor Is on Fire, the documentary featured interviews with key plant workers, including Tom Tuohy. In 2007 the BBC aired another documentary about the accident titled "Windscale: Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster", which investigates the history of the first British nuclear facility and its role in the development of
nuclear weapons. The documentary features interviews with key scientists and plant operators, including Tuohy. The documentary suggests that the fire – the first fire in any nuclear facility – was caused by the relaxation of safety measures, as a result of pressure from the British government to quickly produce
fissile materials for nuclear weapons. ==See also==