Idaho Soldier’s Remains Still Emitting Energy After 6 Decades

A terrible nuclear accident occurred in the Idaho desert more than 60 years ago that instantly killed three soldiers 40 miles west of Idaho Falls.

One of the victim's remains is still emitting low-level nuclear energy to this day, and his grave had to be specially designed in order to trap the deadly radiation.

On January 3, 1961, a steam explosion caused by human error resulted in a partial nuclear core meltdown at the Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One (now the Idaho National Laboratory) / National Reactor Testing Station, 70 miles east of Arco, Idaho, which holds the distinction of being the world's first town to be powered solely by nuclear energy in 1955.

Idaho Soldier Killed In 1961 Nuclear Meltdown Accident Still Emitting Energy From Tomb

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Suffering the worst from the meltdown that day was U.S. Army Specialist Richard Leroy McKinley, who absorbed so much radiation that his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery is nicknamed, 'the grave that still glows,' according to Life Facts / Meta.

READ MORE: A Nuclear Project Brings Idaho To The 22nd Century

The website Ancient History (Meta) describes the tomb of McKinley's as being lined with lead and metal, with the remains in a vacuum-sealed coffin surrounded by another layer of metal. The body couldn't be cremated due to the high levels of radiation, according to the website.

The Idaho National Laboratory opened in 1949 after being a state military testing range for years. The 1961 meltdown remains one of the deadliest nuclear accidents in human history.