Nuclear and radiation accidents by country
Encyclopedia
This is a List of nuclear and radiation accidents by country.
This list only reports the proximate confirmed human deaths and does not go into detail about ecological, environmental or long term effects such as birth defects or permanent loss of habitable land.
This list only reports the proximate confirmed human deaths and does not go into detail about ecological, environmental or long term effects such as birth defects or permanent loss of habitable land.
Brazil
- September 13, 1987 – Goiania accidentGoiânia accidentThe Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on September 13, 1987, at Goiânia, in the Brazilian State of Goiás after an old radiotherapy source was taken from an abandoned hospital site in the city...
. Eleven fatalities and 320 other people received serious radiation contamination.
Canada
- December 12, 1952 – The NRX accident. Explosions occurred in the reactor core.The world's first major nuclear reactor accident.
- May 24, 1958 – The NRU accident. Fuel rods in the reactor overheated and ruptured inside the reactor core. A rod caught fire and broke when removed, then dispersed fission pruducts and alpha-emitting particles.
- 1974 Pickering nuclear facility. Tubes that hold fuel rods ruptured.
- August 1983 Pickering nuclear Reactor 2. Tubes that hold fuel rods ruptured. page 8 and 23 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- March 1986 Bruce nuclear Reactor 2.Tubes that hold fuel rods ruptured. page 23 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- November 22, 1988 Pickering nuclear reaction 1, Damage to 36 fuel bundles. Radioactive Iodine released.page 8 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- February 20, 1990 – Daniel George Maston placed a sample of heavy water into a "sport mix" drink dispenser in an industrial lunch zone.
- January 27, 1992 Darlington nuclear power plant
- August 2, 1992 Pickering nuclear reactor 1, 2300 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium released into Lake Ontario.page 8 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- February 15, 1993 Darlington nuclear power plant
- December 10, 1994 Pickering Reactor 2, 185 tonnes of heavy water. page 8 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- February 19, 1996 Reactor 5, 500 tonnes of water spilled into the reactor 5 building page 8 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- April 15, 1996 Pickering Reactor 4, released 50 trillion becquerels of tritium into Lake Ontario. page 9 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- May 17, 1997 1000 tonnes of metal from Nuclear Power Plants have been dumped into Lake Ontario. page 9 of PDF Titled "Ontario’s Nuclear Generating Facilities: A History and Estimate of Unit Lifetimes and Refurbishment Costs"
- December 5, 2008 Chalk River Labs heavy water
- November 26, 2009 Bruce A unit one, Alpha Contamination Event , airborne Cobalt 60 in plant, up to 217 workers may have breathed in the particulate. Bruce power plant accident report
- December 21, 2009 around 3 p.m Darlington nuclear generating station released radioactive tritium and hydrazine.
- March 14, 2011 11:30 p.m. ET Pickering A nuclear generating station released 73,000 litres of demineralized water, water containing tritium and hydrazine into Lake Ontario.
Costa Rica
- 1996 – Radiotherapy accident in Costa RicaRadiotherapy accident in Costa RicaThe radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica occurred with the Alcyon II radiotherapy unit at San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José, Costa Rica. It was related to a Cobalt-60 source that was being used for radiotherapy in 1996...
. Thirteen fatalities and 114 other patients received an overdose of radiation.
India
- April 2010 – Mayapuri radiological accident. One fatality.
Japan
- March 1, 1954 – Daigo Fukuryū MaruDaigo Fukuryu Maruwas a Japanese tuna fishing boat, which was exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test on Bikini Atoll, on 1 March 1954....
, one fatality. - September 30, 1999 – Tokaimura nuclear accidentTokaimura nuclear accidentThe Tokaimura nuclear accident , which occurred on 30 September 1999, resulted in two deaths. At that time, it was Japan's worst civilian nuclear radiation accident. The criticality accident occurred in a uranium reprocessing facility operated by JCO , a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co...
, nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, two fatalities. - August 9, 2004 – Mihama Nuclear Power PlantMihama Nuclear Power PlantThe is operated by The Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc. and is in the town of Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, about 320 km west of Tokyo. It is on a site that is 520,000 m2 of which 60% is green space.-Reactors on Site:-Events:...
accident. Hot water and steam leaked from a broken pipe. The accident was the worst nuclear disaster of Japan up until that time, excluding Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Five fatalities. - March 12, 2011 – FukushimaTimeline of the Fukushima nuclear accidentsFor the timelines of the nuclear accidents at Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, see:* Timeline of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents* Timeline of the Fukushima II nuclear accidents...
. Level 7 nuclear accident on the INESInesInes is a variation of the name Agnes.Ines may also refer to:* Inès, French variation of the name* Saint Ines * Inés Sainz Ines is a variation of the name Agnes.Ines may also refer to:* Inès, French variation of the name* Saint Ines (c. 291 – c. 304)* Inés Sainz Ines is a variation of the name...
. Three of the reactors at Fukushima I overheated, causing meltdownsNuclear meltdownNuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
that eventually led to explosions, which released large amounts of radioactive material into the air.
Panama
- August 2000 to March 2001 – Instituto Oncologico NacionalInstituto Oncologico NacionalThe National Oncologic Institute or ION is a specialized hospital for cancer treatment, located in Panama City, Panama.-History:...
of PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
; 17 patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer and cancer of the cervix received lethal doses of radiation.
Soviet Union/Russia
- September 29, 1957 – Mayak nuclear wasteKyshtym disasterThe Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination incident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Russia...
storage tank explosion at ChelyabinskChelyabinskChelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
. Two hundred plus fatalities and this figure is a conservative estimate; 270,000 people were exposed to dangerous radiationRadioactive decayRadioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...
levels. Over thirty small communities had been removed from Soviet maps between 1958 and 1991. (INES level 6). - July 4, 1961 – Soviet submarine K-19Soviet submarine K-19K-19, KS-19, BS_19 was one of the first two Soviet submarines of the 658, 658м, 658с class , the first generation nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles, specifically the R-13 . Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened on 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959...
accident. Eight fatalities and more than 30 people were over-exposed to radiation. - May 24, 1968 – Soviet submarine K-27Soviet submarine K-27The K-27 was the only submarine of Projekt 645 in the Soviet Navy. Project 645 did not have or need its own NATO reporting name. That project produced just one test model nuclear submarine, one which incorporated a pair of experimental VT-1 nuclear reactors that used a liquid-metal coolant ,...
accident. Nine fatalities and 83 people were injured. - 5 October 1982 – Lost radiation source, Baku, Azerbaidjan, USSR. Five fatalities and 13 injuries.
- August 10, 1985 – Soviet submarine K-431Soviet submarine K-431The Soviet submarine K-431 was a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine that had a reactor accident on August 10, 1985. An explosion occurred during refueling of the submarine at Chazhma Bay, Vladivostok...
accident. Ten fatalities and 49 other people suffered radiation injuries. - April 26, 1986 – Chernobyl disasterChernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
. See below in the section on Ukraine. In 1986, the Ukrainian SSRUkrainian SSRThe Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
was part of the Soviet Union. - April 6, 1993 – accident at the Tomsk-7 Reprocessing Complex, when a tank exploded while being cleaned with nitricNitric acidNitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming...
acidAcidAn acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
. The explosion released a cloud of radioactive gas (INES level 4).
Spain
- January 17, 1966 – 1966 Palomares B-52 crash.
- December 1990 – Radiotherapy accident in ZaragozaRadiotherapy accident in ZaragozaThe radioactive accident at the Clinic of Zaragoza was a radiological accident that occurred from December 10-20, 1990, at the Clinic of Zaragoza, in Spain....
. Eleven fatalities and 27 other patients were injured.
Thailand
- February 2000 – Three deaths and ten injuries resulted in Samut Prakarn when a radiation-therapy unit was dismantled.
Ukraine
- April 26, 1986 – Chernobyl disasterChernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
. Fifty-six direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with thyroid cancerThyroid cancerThyroid neoplasm is a neoplasm or tumor of the thyroid. It can be a benign tumor such as thyroid adenoma, or it can be a malignant neoplasm , such as papillary, follicular, medullary or anaplastic thyroid cancer. Most patients are 25 to 65 years of age when first diagnosed; women are more affected...
), and it is estimated that there were 4,000 extra cancer deaths among the approximately 600,000 most highly exposed people.
United Kingdom
- October 8, 1957 – Windscale fireWindscale fireThe Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history, ranked in severity at level 5 on the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale. The two piles had been hurriedly built as part of the British atomic bomb project. Windscale Pile No. 1 was operational in...
ignites plutonium piles and contaminates surrounding dairy farms, 33 cancer deaths.
United States
- August 21, 1945 – Harry K. Daghlian, Jr died at Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
in New Mexico. - May 21, 1946 – Louis SlotinLouis SlotinLouis Alexander Slotin was a Canadian physicist and chemist who took part in the Manhattan Project, the secret US program during World War II that developed the atomic bomb....
died. - December 30, 1958 – Cecil Kelley criticality accidentCecil Kelley criticality accidentThe Cecil Kelley criticality accident was a nuclear accident that took place on December 30, 1958, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the United States...
, at the Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
. - 1961 – (US ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
) SL-1SL-1The SL-1, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a steam explosion and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators. The direct cause was the improper withdrawal of the central control rod, responsible for...
accident resulted in three fatalities. - December 18, 1970 – After the Baneberry test at Yucca FlatYucca FlatYucca Flat is a closed desert drainage basin, one of four major nuclear test regions within the Nevada Test Site , and is divided into nine test sections: Areas 1 through 4 and 6 through 10. Yucca Flat is located at the eastern edge of NTS, about ten miles north of Frenchman Flat, and from Las...
, radioactive debris vented into the atmosphere, and 86 workers at the site were exposed to radiation. - 1974-1976 – Columbus radiotherapy accident, 10 deaths and 88 injuries.
- 1979 – Three Mile Island accidentThree Mile Island accidentThe Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
in PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Partial core meltdown, making it the most significant accident in U.S. history. No fatalities. - 1980 – Houston radiotherapy accident, 7 deaths.
See also
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiDuring the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
- Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
- Nuclear and radiation accidentsNuclear and radiation accidentsA nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility...
- Nuclear power accidents by country
- Nevada Test SiteNevada Test SiteThe Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...
- Radium GirlsRadium GirlsThe Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint at the United States Radium factory in Orange, New Jersey around 1917....
- Semipalatinsk Test SiteSemipalatinsk Test SiteThe Semipalatinsk Test Site was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. It is located on the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan , south of the valley of the Irtysh River...
External links
- The Worst Nuclear Disasters TIME magazine
- U.S. Nuclear Accidents Compiled by allen lutins