A 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. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, large radioactivity release to the environment, or reactor core melt."[2] The prime example of a "major nuclear accident" is one in which a reactor core is damaged and large amounts of radiation are released, such as in the Chernobyl Disaster in 1986.
Serious nuclear power plant accidents include the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), Chernobyl disaster (1986), Three Mile Island accident (1979), and the SL-1 accident (1961).[3] ,Nuclear-powered submarine mishaps include the K-19 reactor accident (1961),[4] the K-27 reactor accident (1968),[5] and the K-431 reactor accident (1985).[3] Serious radiation accidents include the Kyshtym disaster, Windscale fire, radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica,[6] radiotherapy accident in Zaragoza,[4] radiation accident in Morocco,[7] Goiania accident,[8] and the radiation accident in Mexico City.
The International Atomic Energy Agency maintains a website reporting recent accidents: [2].[dead link]
List of Accidents
editAll information so far from: [9].
Accidents at Nuclear Facilities
editAccidents related to nuclear facilities are split into accidents at military facilities and those at civilian facilities. The majority of recorded accidents are criticality accidents. Amount of material released is reported in becquerel (Bq) where appropriate dose is reported in Gray (Gy) if available. Any information of fatalities or serious injuries are recorded as available.
Accidents at Military Facilities
editThere have been a total of 22 accidents at military nuclear facilities with radiation release limited to the immediate area. 17 of these were criticality accidents and 5 others were not but involved radiation. In total there have been four accidents at military nuclear facilities that have release significant amounts of radiation into the environment, 1957 Windscale fire, the 1957 Kyshtym disaster, the 1986 tank rupture at the Sequoya Fuels Corporation Facility, and the 1993 accident at Siberian Chemical Enterprises. Of the accidents all but one occurred in either the Former Soviet Union/Russian Federation or the United States.
- August 1945, United States - Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Criticality accident caused when tungsten brick was accidentally placed into plutonium core of reactor. Technician responsible received a dose of 5.1 Gy and died 28 days later. A guard stationed outside of the building received a dose of 0.5 Gy. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- May 1946, United States - Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Criticality accident caused when by minor mishap an at a demonstration of reactor from above. The individual responsible received dose of 21 Gy and died 8 days later. Seven other individuals received doses between 0.7-3.6 Gy and all survived. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- 1951, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Not criticality accident. Cause unknown. One death and four injuries due to external radiation exposure. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- 1952, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Not criticality accident. Cause unknown. Two deaths related to tritiated water. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- June 1952, United States - Argonne National Laboratory.
Criticality accident caused when operators attempted to replace the control rod of a light water moderated core at a normal water level. Four individuals received doses of 1.36, 1.27, 0.6, and 0.09 Gy and all survived. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- March 1953, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Criticality accident involving seven 40 L tanks used at various stages of the reprocessing cycle. Radiation monitoring equipment wasn't available at the time, but one operator received dose of 10 Gy and suffered acute radiation syndrome(ARS) requiring both legs to be amputated. A second operator received a dose of 1.5-2.0 Gy a survived with mild ARS. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- 1954, Former Soviet Union - Arzamas-16 Nuclear Center.
Not a criticality accident. Cause unknown. One death due to internal plutonium-210 exposure. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- April 1957, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Criticality accident involving tank used for purification and filtration of highly enriched uranium solutions caused by unsafe geometry in the tank. Operator died 12 days later after receiving dose of 10 Gy. Five other workers received doses ranging from 2.0 to 6.0 Gy a suffered acute radiation syndrome. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- September 1957, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Kyshtym disaster caused when storage tank containing radioactive salts overheated leading to an explosion which released 740 PBq of radioactive material over a 20,000km2 area. Significant numbers of people were exposed and evacuations of the surrounding areas most effected were carried out.
- October 1957, United Kingdom - Windscale
Windscale fire which burned inside a graphite reactor for three days resulting in significant radiation release into the surrounding area. 720 TBq of iodine-131 were released along with smaller quantities of other radionucleotides. Maximum doses are expected to have been 0.01 Gy in adult's thyroids and 0.1 Gy in children's thyroids. Overall doses were relatively small, although a significant number of people were exposed.
- January 1958, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Criticality accident involving a tank used for testing purposes caused by four workers attempting to speed up the draining of the tank. Three of the workers received doses from 40-50 Gy and died within a week, the forth received a dose of 6 Gy and suffered from acute radiation syndrome and was observed to contract other long term health problems related to the exposure, including cataracts. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- June 1958, United States - Y12 Plant.
Two Criticality accidents 15 seconds apart caused by a valve leaking uranyl nitrate into a vessel. When vessel was opened to be drained of water the uranyl nitrate caused an unsafe geometry. Five workers received doses from 2.36-3.65 Gy and three doses below 0.7 Gy. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- December 1958, United States - Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Criticality accident caused when nitric acid used to wash a tank separated the liquid phases of two different materials coming from two separate vessels, accident occurred when a stirrer was activated. Operator received dose of 120 Gy a died 36 hours later. Two others had doses of 1.34 Gy and 0.53 Gy and suffered no apparent health consequences. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- January 1961, United States - National reactor testing station
Criticality accident caused when the central control rod of a 3MW boiling water reactor was removed to quickly. This caused a steam explosion that killed two of the operators and the third died two hours later of head injuries. Radiation was released but the area was uninhabited and no members of the public were exposed.
- August 1961, Former Soviet Union - Siberian Chemical Complex.
Criticality accident caused by lack of sufficient cooling in the main cylinder for purifying uranium hexafluoride. After first accident no increased radiation levels were detected and work resumed causing a second accident. The operator received a dose of 2 Gy and had mild acute radiation syndrome. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- April 1962, United States - Hanford Facility.
Criticality accident caused by various factors related to a solvent hood and improper operation of valves. A supercriticality occurred for 37.5 hours. Three people received doses of radiation from 0.1 to 1.1 Gy. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- March 1963, Former Soviet Union - Arzamas-16 Nuclear Center.
Criticality accident caused by accidental assembly closure by operator. Two individuals received doses of 3.7 and 5.5 Gy and suffered mild acute radiation syndrome. Four others received insignificant radiation doses. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- July 1964, United States - Wood River Junction Chemical Process Plant.
Criticality accident caused when the operator mistakenly poured bottles usually containing a low concentration of uranium nitrate that had been filled with a high concentration instead into a vessel containing sodium carbonate. The operator received a dose of 100 Gy and died 49 hours later. Two others received doses of 1 and 0.6 Gy. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- April 1968, Former Soviet Union - Russian Federal Nuclear Center.
Criticality accident caused when two technicians failed to reposition critical assembly component prior to test. Technicians received doses of 5-10 and 20-40 Gy and died 54 and 3 days later respectively. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- December 1968, Former Soviet Union - Mayak Complex.
Criticality accident caused when a new procedure was tested on a solution with a higher than normal plutonium concentration which contained organic material was poured into a vessel of unsafe geometry. The shift supervisor who returned to the scene to attempt to pour some of the liquid into the drain caused a second criticality and died 34 days later. The operator survived but had both legs and one arm amputated. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- August 1976, United States - Hanford Facility.
Chemical operator injured in chemical explosion of an ion exchange column used for the recovery of americium-248. He suffered chemical burns and lacerations from the explosion and was also contaminated with americium-248 including inhaling 40.7 MBq of the radionucleotide. Doses to the bone lung and liver were 8.6, 2 and 1.6 Gy respectively. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- Decemeber 1978, Former Soviet Union - Siberian Chemical Complex.
Criticality accident caused when technician accidentally dropped component of the upper assembly into an enriched uranium core. The technician received a dose of 48.5 Gy and died 66.5 hours later. Release was minor and confined to immediate area.
- January 1986, United States - Sequoya Fuels Corporation Facility.
Accidental rupture of a 14 ton cylinder containing uranium hexafloride. One death not due to radiation exposure occored. Both workers and seven members of the public received significant internal doses of radiation. Radiation spread over surrounding area.
- April 1993, Russian Federation - Siberian Chemical Enterprises.
Serious accident at facility lead to the release of 30 TBq of radionucleotides and 6 GBq of plutonium-239. Only six workers received detectable doses above 0.2 mGy, and 14 firefighters received doses of 1-7 mGy. Although no one received a medically significant dose some contamination of the surrounding area occurred.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
editNuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters and Regional staff members typically participate in four full-scale and emergency response exercises each year, selected from among the list of full-scale Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-graded exercises required of nuclear facilities. Regional staff members and selected Headquarters staff also participate in post-plume, ingestion phase response exercises. On-scene participants include the NRC licensee, and State, county, and local emergency response agencies.[10] This allows for Federal interagency participation that will provide increased preparedness during the potential for an event at an operating nuclear reactor.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, (NRC) collects reports of incidents occurring at regulated facilities. The agency currently[11] uses a 4 level taxonomy to classify reported incidents:[12]
- Notification of Unusual Event (not listed as accidents below)
- Unusual events are in process or have occurred which indicate a potential degradation of the level of safety of the plant. No releases of radioactive material requiring offsite response or monitoring are expected unless further degradation of safety systems occurs.
Not all reportable events constitute accidents. Incidents which threaten the normal operation or security of a facility may be reportable but not result in any release of radioactivity.
The United States Department of Energy uses a similar classification system for events occurring at fuel cycle plants and facilities owned by the US government which are therefore regulated by the DOE instead of the NRC.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) now requires each nuclear power plant in the U.S. to have a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) performed upon it. The two types of such plants in the US (as of 2007) are boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors, and a study based on two early such PRAs was done (NUREG-1150) and released to the public. However, those early PRAs made unrealistically conservative assumptions, and the NRC is now generating a new study: SOARCA.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Martin Fackler (June 1, 2011). "Report Finds Japan Underestimated Tsunami Danger". New York Times.
- ^ Staff, IAEA, AEN/NEA. International Nuclear and Radiological Events Scale Users' Manual, 2008 Edition (PDF) (in Technical English). Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency. p. 184. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b Strengthening the Safety of Radiation Sources p. 14. Cite error: The named reference "rad" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ 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.
- ^ Lost Iridium-192 Source
- ^ The Radiological Accident in Goiania p. 2.
- ^ Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation (PDF) (Report). UNSCEAR. 2008.
- ^ [1]
- ^ As of 2006
- ^ Criterion for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plans and Preparedness in support of Nuclear Power Plants
External links
edit
- U.S. Nuclear Accidents (lutins.org) most comprehensive online list of incidents involving U.S. nuclear facilities and vessels, 1950–present
- US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) website with search function and electronic public reading room
- International Atomic Energy Agency website with extensive online library
- Nuclear Disasters - slideshow by Life magazine
- Chernobyl Children's Project International
- Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety Detailed articles on nuclear watchdog activities in the US
- World Nuclear Association: Radiation Doses Background on ionizing radiation and doses
- Radiological Incidents Database Extensive, well-referenced list of radiological incidents
- A Review of Criticality Accidents (Archive index at the Wayback Machine)
- Nuclear Files.org List of nuclear accidents
- Annotated bibliography for civilian nuclear accidents from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Critical Hour: Three Mile Island, The Nuclear Legacy, And National Security. Albert J. Fritsch, Arthur H. Purcell, and Mary Byrd Davis (2005).Updated edition, June 2006