List of nuclear and radiation accidents by death toll: Difference between revisions
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==Chernobyl disaster== |
==Chernobyl disaster== |
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4,000 fatalities<ref>[[Benjamin K. Sovacool]]. The costs of failure: A preliminary assessment of major energy accidents, 1907–2007, ''[[Energy Policy]]'' 36 (2008), p. 1806.</ref><ref>Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, ''Journal of Contemporary Asia'', Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 396.</ref> – [[Chernobyl disaster]], [[Ukraine]], April 26, 1986. 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with [[thyroid cancer]]), and it is estimated that there were 4,000 extra cancer deaths among the approximately 600,000 most highly exposed people.<ref name="iaea">{{cite web|title=IAEA Report|work=In Focus: Chernobyl|accessdate = 2008-05-31 |url=http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/ }}</ref> |
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Estimates of the total number of deaths potentially resulting from the Chernobyl disaster vary enormously: [[Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster|Thirty one deaths are directly attributed to the accident]], all among the reactor staff and emergency workers.<ref name="Hallenbeck 1994 15">{{cite book | title = Radiation Protection | last = Hallenbeck | first = William H | isbn = 0-873-719-964 | publisher = CRC Press | year = 1994 | quote = Reported thus far are 237 cases of acute radiation sickness and 31 deaths. | page = 15}}</ref> A [[UNSCEAR]] report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008. The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) suggests it could reach 4,000 civilian deaths, a figure which does not include military clean-up worker casualties.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident|url=http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/index.html|work=Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> A 2006 [[TORCH report|report]] predicted 30,000 to 60,000 cancer deaths as a result of Chernobyl fallout.<ref name=torch>{{cite web|url=http://www.chernobylreport.org/?p=summary |title=Torch: The Other Report On Chernobyl- executive summary|accessdate=2011-08-20|publisher=[[European Greens]] and UK scientists Ian Fairlie PhD and David Sumner - Chernobylreport.org|date=April 2006}}</ref> A [[Greenpeace]] report puts this figure at 200,000 or more.<ref name="TheChernobyl2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2006/4/chernobylhealthreport.pdf|title=The Chernobyl Catastrophe - Consequences on Human Health |accessdate=15 December 2008|publisher=Greenpeace|date=18 April 2006}}</ref> A Russian publication, [[Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment|''Chernobyl'']], concludes that 985,000 premature cancer deaths occurred worldwide between 1986 and 2004 as a result of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl.<ref name="Alexey2009">{{cite book |author1=Alexey V. Yablokov |author2=Vassily B. Nesterenko |author3=Alexey V. Nesterenko |title=[[Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment]] (Annals of the [[New York Academy of Sciences]]) |publisher= [[Wiley-Blackwell]]|year=2009 |isbn=978-1573317573 |edition=paperback}}</ref> |
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{{quote|there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure two decades after the accident. There is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality rates or in rates of non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure. The incidence of [[leukaemia]] in the general population, one of the main concerns owing to the shorter time expected between exposure and its occurrence compared with solid cancers, does not appear to be elevated. Although those most highly exposed individuals are at an increased risk of radiation-associated effects, the great majority of the population is not likely to experience serious health consequences as a result of radiation from the Chernobyl accident. Many other health problems have been noted in the populations that are not related to radiation exposure.<ref name="Chernobyl health effects">{{cite web|url=http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html#Health |title=UNSCEAR — Chernobyl health effects |publisher=Unscear.org |date= |accessdate=23 March 2011}}</ref>}} |
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==Mayak explosion== |
==Mayak explosion== |
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*1 fatality – Malfunction INES level 4 at RA2 in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], operator Osvaldo Rogulich dies days later. |
*1 fatality – Malfunction INES level 4 at RA2 in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], operator Osvaldo Rogulich dies days later. |
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*Still to compute future death toll<ref>A death toll of 47 up to 13 June 2011, none of them imputable to the effects of radiation release, but: two technicians dead from ''[[tsunami]]'' wave, and 45 elderly people dead from [[dehydration]] while being evacuated</ref> - [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster|Fukushima]], [[Japan]]. A series of mechanical failures and [[Radioactive_fallout|release]] of [[radioactive]] material from multiple [[Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant|reactors]] following the 9.0 [[Moment magnitude scale|magnitude]] [[Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]] on 11 [[March 2011]] [http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html][http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZiRonERvKrYJ:www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/18/japan-nuclear-power-plant-updates+fukushima+update&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au&source=www.google.com.au] |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 23:03, 12 October 2011
There have been more than 20 nuclear and radiation accidents involving fatalities. These involved nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear submarine accidents, radiotherapy accidents, and other mishaps.
Chernobyl disaster
4,000 fatalities[1][2] – Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine, April 26, 1986. 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with thyroid cancer), and it is estimated that there were 4,000 extra cancer deaths among the approximately 600,000 most highly exposed people.[3]
Estimates of the total number of deaths potentially resulting from the Chernobyl disaster vary enormously: Thirty one deaths are directly attributed to the accident, all among the reactor staff and emergency workers.[4] A UNSCEAR report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests it could reach 4,000 civilian deaths, a figure which does not include military clean-up worker casualties.[5] A 2006 report predicted 30,000 to 60,000 cancer deaths as a result of Chernobyl fallout.[6] A Greenpeace report puts this figure at 200,000 or more.[7] A Russian publication, Chernobyl, concludes that 985,000 premature cancer deaths occurred worldwide between 1986 and 2004 as a result of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl.[8]
Mayak explosion
200+ fatalities – Mayak nuclear waste storage tank explosion, (Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union, 29 September 1957), figure is a conservative estimate, 270,000 people were exposed to dangerous radiation levels. Over thirty small communities had been removed from Soviet maps between 1958 and 1991.[9]
Windscale fire
33+ cancer fatalities (estimated by UK government)[10][11] – Windscale, United Kingdom, October 8, 1957. Fire ignites plutonium piles and contaminates surrounding dairy farms.[10][11]
Other accidents
- 17 fatalities – Instituto Oncologico Nacional of Panama, August 2000 – March 2001. Patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer and cancer of the cervix receive lethal doses of radiation.[12][13]
- 13 fatalities – Radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica, 1996. 114 patients received an overdose of radiation from a Cobalt-60 source that was being used for radiotherapy.[14]
- 11 fatalities – Radiotherapy accident in Zaragoza, Spain, December 1990. Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy; 27 patients were injured.[15]
- 10 fatalities – Soviet submarine K-431 reactor accident, August 10, 1985. 49 people suffered radiation injuries.[16]
- 10 fatalities – Columbus radiotherapy accident, 1974–1976, 88 injuries from Cobalt-60 source.[13][17]
- 9 fatalities – Soviet submarine K-27 reactor accident, 24 May 1968. 83 people were injured.[13]
- 8 fatalities – Soviet submarine K-19 reactor accident, July 4, 1961. More than 30 people were over-exposed to radiation.[15]
- 8 fatalities – Radiation accident in Morocco, March 1984.[18]
- 7 fatalities – Houston radiotherapy accident, 1980.[13][17]
- 5 fatalities – Lost radiation source, Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR, October 5, 1982. 13 injuries.[13]
- 4 fatalities – Mihama Nuclear Power Plant accident, August 9, 2004. Hot water and steam leaked from a broken pipe. [19]
- 4 fatalities – Goiânia accident, September 13, 1987. 249 people received serious radiation contamination from lost radiography source.[20]
- 4 fatalities – Radiation accident in Mexico City, 1962.
- 3 fatalities – SL-1 accident (US Army) 1961.
- 3 fatalities – Three deaths and ten injuries resulted in Samut Prakarn, Thailand when a radiation-therapy unit was dismantled, February 2000.[21]
- 2 fatalities – Tokaimura nuclear accident, nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Japan, September 30, 1999.[22]
- 1 fatality – Mayapuri radiological accident, India, April 2010.[21]
- 1 fatality – Daigo Fukuryū Maru March 1, 1954
- 1 fatality – Louis Slotin May 21, 1946
- 1 fatality – Harry K. Daghlian, Jr., August 21, 1945 at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
- 1 fatality – Cecil Kelley criticality accident, December 30, 1958 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[23]
- 1 fatality – Malfunction INES level 4 at RA2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operator Osvaldo Rogulich dies days later.
- Still to compute future death toll[24] - Fukushima, Japan. A series of mechanical failures and release of radioactive material from multiple reactors following the 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 [1][2]
See also
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
- Nevada Test Site
- Semipalatinsk Test Site
References
- ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool. The costs of failure: A preliminary assessment of major energy accidents, 1907–2007, Energy Policy 36 (2008), p. 1806.
- ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 396.
- ^ "IAEA Report". In Focus: Chernobyl. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ Hallenbeck, William H (1994). Radiation Protection. CRC Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-873-719-964.
Reported thus far are 237 cases of acute radiation sickness and 31 deaths.
- ^ "Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident". Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ "Torch: The Other Report On Chernobyl- executive summary". European Greens and UK scientists Ian Fairlie PhD and David Sumner - Chernobylreport.org. April 2006. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ^ "The Chernobyl Catastrophe - Consequences on Human Health" (PDF). Greenpeace. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ Alexey V. Yablokov; Vassily B. Nesterenko; Alexey V. Nesterenko (2009). Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) (paperback ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1573317573.
- ^ Samuel Upton Newtan. Nuclear War I and Other Major Nuclear Disasters of the 20th Century 2007, pp. 237–240.
- ^ a b Perhaps the Worst, Not the First TIME magazine, May 12, 1986.
- ^ a b Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 393.
- ^ Investigation of an accidental Exposure of radiotherapy patients in Panama - International Atomic Energy Agency
- ^ a b c d e Johnston, Robert (September 23, 2007). "Deadliest radiation accidents and other events causing radiation casualties". Database of Radiological Incidents and Related Events.
- ^ Medical management of radiation accidents pp. 299 & 303.
- ^ a b Strengthening the Safety of Radiation Sources p. 15. Cite error: The named reference "rad" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ The Worst Nuclear Disasters
- ^ a b Ricks, Robert C.; et al. (2000). "REAC/TS Radiation Accident Registry: Update of Accidents in the United States" (PDF). International Radiation Protection Association. p. 6.
{{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Lost Iridium-192 Source
- ^ Facts and Details on Nuclear energy in Japan
- ^ The Radiological Accident in Goiania p. 2.
- ^ a b Pallava Bagla. "Radiation Accident a 'Wake-Up Call' For India's Scientific Community" Science, Vol. 328, 7 May 2010, p. 679.
- ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 399.
- ^ McInroy, James F. (1995), "A true measure of plutonium exposure: the human tissue analysis program at Los Alamos" (PDF), Los Alamos Science, 23: 235–255
- ^ A death toll of 47 up to 13 June 2011, none of them imputable to the effects of radiation release, but: two technicians dead from tsunami wave, and 45 elderly people dead from dehydration while being evacuated
External links
- The Worst Nuclear Disasters TIME magazine
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